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Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  at  the  age  of  about  60.      Reproduced  from  steel  engraving-. 


The  Life 

of 

Nathan  Smith  Davis 

A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

1817 1904 


"  I  have  taught  thee  in  the  way  of  wisdom; 
I  have  led  thee  in  right  paths." — Prov.  iv.  11. 


By 

I.  N.  Danforth,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Chicago,  III. 


3IUuatrat?ti 


Chicago 

Cleveland  Press 
1907 


Copyright  1907 

BY  THE 

CLEVELAND  PRESS 

CHICAGO 


TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

ISAAC  DANFORTH,    M.  D. 

1763 1851 

AND 

SAMUEL  PARKMAN  DANFORTH,  M.  u., 

iSio 1865 

TWO    VERMONT    PHYSICIANS 

WHO    DEVOTED    THEIR    LIVES    TO    THE 

ELEVATION    AND    IMPROVEMENT 

OF    THE 

SCIENCE    AND    PRACTICE 

OF    MEDICINE. 


PREFACE. 


I  began  writing  the  life  of  Dr.  Davis  with  great  reluctance ;  I  close 
my  task  with  greater  reluctance.  For  several  months  past  he  has  been 
my  constant  companion,  I  might  almost  say,  day  and  night.  As  I  have 
studied  his  austere  personality,  arid  his  rugged  character,  so  transparent 
and  genuine,  my  respect  for  the  man  has  grown  day  by  day.  I  do  not, 
however,  for  a  moment  imagine  that  T  have  written  a  life  of  Dr.  Davis  that 
will  be  satisfactory  to  the  medical  profession  or  the  public.  A  character 
so  colossal  needs  the  perspective  of  time  and  distance,  before  an  adequate 
estimate  of  its  merits  or  demerits  can  be  formed.  Fifty  years  hence,  Nathan 
Smith  Davis  will  measure  up  to  the  altitude  of  Benjamin  Rush  and  Joseph 
Warren ;  then  some  one  will  write  his  life  in  a  worthier  manner  than  is 
possible  at  the  present  time,  or  by  the  present  biographer.  I  have  tried  to 
be  accurate;  I  have  tried  to  be  impartial;  I  have  tried  to  be  just;  how  far 
I  have  succeeded,  my  readers  must  judge.  I  have  been  much  handicapped 
by  the  absence  of  original  documents,  such  as  letters,  and  the  various  man- 
uscript sources  of  information  usually  left  by  public  men;  but  all  these  in- 
valuable treasures  were  unfortunately  destroyed  a  few  years  ago. 

Just  at  this  point,  the  mail  brings  me  the  following  letter  from  the' 
present  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  worthy  successor  of  a  noble  father,  which  it  gives 
me  great  pleasure  to  receive  and  to  print: 

My  dear  Doctor  Danforth  : 

You  have  striven  most  conscientiously  to  present  correctly  the  facts 
in  my  father's  life  and  I  believe  that  you  have  succeeded. 

Unfortunately  there  have  been  few  manuscript  aids  for  the  construction 
of  your  work,  and  my  father's  cotemporaries  are  almost  all  dead.  How- 
ever, in  spite  of  these  difficulties  you  have  successfully  described  the  im- 
portant incidents  of  his  life. 

It  has  been  a  pleasure  to  aid  you  as  far  as  possible. 

Very  sincerely  yours,  N.  S.  Davis. 

I  cannot  close  without  expressing  my  profound  gratitude  to  Madam 
Davis,  widow  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  who  still  survives  him,  for  her  patient 
assistance  and  counsel  as  my  work  has  progressed,  and  to  her  son,  the  pres- 


PREFACE 


ent  Dr.  Davis,  I  am  under  deep  obligations  for  his  helpful  counsel.  I 
take  pleasure,  also,  in  expressing-  my  thanks  to  my  friend,  Dr.  L.  B.  Hayman, 
who  has  been  of  great  assistance  in  helping  me  to  correct  proofs,  and  in 
guiding  me  over  sundry  rough  places,  which  I  encountered  because  of  my 
slight  acquaintance  with  the  "technique"  of  the  printer. 

905  \\'.  ^lonroe  street.  I.  X.  D. 

September,  1907. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction. 
I.     Childhood— Youth— Medical  Studies, 
11.     Marriage;  Early  Professional  Life. 

III.  Removal  to  Chicago;  Connection   with  Rush 

Medical  College. 

IV.  Professional  Career  in  Chicago:  Chicago 

Medical  College;  Mercy  Hospital. 

V.  Connection  with  Educational  and  Charitable 

Institutions. 
VI.     Relations  to  the  American  Medical  Association. 
VII.     Relations  to  the  American  Medical  Association 

— (Continued). 
VIII.     Connection  with  the  Ninth  International 
Medical  Congress  in  1887. 
IX.    The  "Jubilee"  Meeting  of  the  American 

Medical  Association  in  1897. 
X.    Temperance  Work:  Public  and  Professional. 
XI.     Literary  and  Journalistic  Work. 
XII.    The  Literary  and  Scientific  Harvest  of  a 
Busy  Life. 

XIII.  The  Testimonial  Banquet  of  October  5,  1901. 

XIV.  Religious  and  Church  Life;  Last  Days. 
XV.     Memorial  Service  of  October  23,  1904. 

XVI.     Commemorative  Tablet  Placed  in  Davis  Hall. 

XVII.  Tributes  of  Respect  from  Friends  and  Former 

Pupils. 

XVIII.  Personal  and  Reminiscent. 
XIX.    Conclusion— A  Character  Study. 


INTRODUCTORY, 


The  subject  of  the  following  memoir  took  his  medical  degree  in 
January,  1837,  while  he  was  yet  a  minor,  and  immediately  engaged  in  medical 
practice.  But  the  world  he  entered  at  the  threshold  of  his  professional  life 
was  a  very  different  world  from  the  one  he  left,  nearly  seventy  years  after- 
wards. It  will  be  interesting  to  glance  briefly  at  some  ot  the  conditions 
in  our  country  at  that  time. 

In  the  South,  the  condition  of  the  slave  had  become  a  source  of  great 
anxiety.  The  "abolitionists"  were  at  work  tooth  and  nail,  and  one  of  them, 
David  Walker,  a  free  negro,  published  his  "Appeal"  in  1829,  a  hot-headed 
pamphlet  which  exasperated  the  slaveholders  and  unsettled  the  slaves. 

Benjamin  Lundy,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Elijah  Lovejoy  and  other 
determined  spirits  in  the  North,  espoused  the  cause  of  the  slave,  and  their 
appeals  in  the  public  press  and  on  the  platform  aroused  intense  excitement 
North  and  South.  In  183 1  came  "Turner's  Rebellion,"  a  mad-cap  out- 
break by  twenty  or  thirty  negroes,  under  the  leadership  of  a  Virginia 
slave,  named  Nat  Turner,  which  set  the  slave-holding  states  into  a  hyster- 
ical fear  of  a  general  revolt  among  their  bondmen.  But  as  fifty-five  men, 
women  and  children  were  slain  by  Turner  and  his  folloAvers,  it  is  not 
strange  that  southern  people  believed  that  the  smouldering  volcano  upon 
which  they  stood,  was  about  to  break  forth  into  fury. 

Considerable  anxiety  was  also  beginning,  in  regard  to  the  immigration 
of  the  paupers,  cripples,  invalids,  idiots  and  "distracted  persons,"  from 
Europe  to  this  land  of  liberty  and  of  plenty,  and  restrictive  legislation  was 
being  discussed  in  a  tentative  way.  As  a  consequence,  a  "Native  American" 
party  of  small  proportions  but  ominous  import,  sprung  up,  survived  its 
little  day  and  faded  out — precursor  of  the  more  pretentious  "Knov/-Noth- 
ingism"  of  the  fifties. 

Travel  was  mainly  by  the  old  fashioned  stage  coach  (the  "Concord 
coach,"  built  in  Concord,  N.  H.,  was  the  acme  of  style  and  luxury),  but 
a  few  short  and  very  primitive  railways  had  been  built  experimentally, 
yet  not  a  single  railway  v,'as  in  regular  and  successful  operation  until  1830, 
when  the  road  from  Baltimore  to  Ellicott's  Mills,  about  13  miles  long, 
was  opened,  and  it  was  regarded  as  almost  beyond  belief  that  the  whole 
13  miles  was  made  in  sixty-nine  minutes,  and  that  Peter  Cooper's  locomo- 


10  INTRODUCTORY 

tive  demonstrated  that  it  could  go  round  a  curve  ''without  danger."  Never- 
theless, there  was  great  opposition  to  railways,  and  the  old  "strap"  rails, 
with  their  perilous  "snake  heads,"'  were  not  calculated  to  inspire  faith  in 
the  new  mode  of  travel,  and  so  the  Concord  coach,  the  canal  boat  and 
the  "prairie  schooner"  still  held  their  own.  But  the  "experts"  were 
laboriously  trying  to  decide  whether  steam  power  or  horse  power  should 
haul  the  railroad  train  of  the  future,  and  John  Stevens,  the  father  of 
American  railwavs,  was  vainly  trving  to  "finance"  (but  not  Harrimanize), 
his  projected  railway  from  Philadelphia  to  Columbus. 

During  these  years  mail  robberies  were  frequent,  and  the  question  of 
Sundav  mails  was  agitating  the  churches  and  the  people.  But  meantime 
other  great  events  were  taking  place  and  great  discoveries  were  being 
made.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  had  invented  his  reaper;  the  steamboat  had 
become  a  practicable  and  profitable  venture;  the  use  of  anthracite  and- 
bituminous  coals  had  passed  the  experimental  stage;  the  sewing  machine 
had  become  an  actuality  and  the  rotary  printing  press  had  supplanted  its 
venerable  predecessor. 

When  we  turn  to  the  condition  of  the  jails,  prisons,  houses  of  correc- 
tion, penitentiaries  or  whatever  else  they  were  called ;  and  to  the  treatment 
of  the  patients  in  the  lunatic  asylums  and  similar  institutions,  we  find  a 
sad  and  shameful  story.  It  does  not  seem  possible  that  in  this  country  of 
ours,  a  lunatic  was  "jailed  for  eight  years,  during  which  time  he  had 
left  his  room  but  twice,  and  for  eighteen  months  the  door  had  never  been 
opened;  food  and  water  was  thrust  through  a  hole  in  the  door."  In  a 
cellar  "were  five  lunatics  in  cells  six  b}^  eight  feet."    And  so  on  ad  nauseam. 

The  prisons  throughout  the  country  were  dirty,  full  of  infection,  ill- 
ventilated,  and  in  every  way  disgusting.  Solitary  confinement,  imprison- 
ment for  debt,  the  pillory,  the  whipping  post,  cropping  the  ears,  branding 
with  the  "scarlet  letter,"  and  standing  on  the  gallows  with  a  rope  around 
one's  neck  for  an  hour  or  more ;  these  were  some  of  the  refined  and  elevat- 
ing methods  of  punishment  still  in  vogue  during  the  boyhood  and  young 
manhood  of  the  man  whose  career  we  are  to  study.  It  is  but  just  to 
add,  however,  that  a  reform  movement  was  already  under  way  and  be- 
fore 1840  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  direction  of  decency 
and  humanity. 

In  the  political  world  Andrew  Jackson's  second  term  as  President 
was  drawing  to  a  close.  His  administration  had  been  a  turbulent  one ;  he 
liad  strangled  "nullification,"  thus  putting  off  the  evil  day  of  secession 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century;  had  closed  the  United  States  Bank,  and  had 
done  sundry  other  things,  equally  positive  and  radical,  and  was  about  to 
retire  to   his  beloved  "Hermitage,"   having  as  manv  devoted   friends   and 


INTRODUCTORY  II 

as  many  bitter  enemies,  as  any  man  in  this  or  any  other  country.  Then 
came  the  administration  of  Jackson's  "man  Friday" — "that  slender  little 
gentleman,  always  courteous,  always  placid,  always  ready  to  listen"* — 
Martin  Van  Buren,  with  its  crushing  financial  panic,  suspension  of  specie 
payments,  bread  riots  and  general  distress  among  all  classes  of  people, 
during  which  "the  country  went  staggering  and  bewildered  through  its 
season  of  bitter  ruin."** 

But  the  country  survived;  the  "Log  Cabin  and  Hard  Cider"  cam- 
paign of  1840,"  succeeded,  the  cry  of  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,"  was  in 
every  schoolboy's  mouth;  the  very  hens  were  said  to  cackle  "Tip  Tip, 
Tip  Tip,  Tyler,"  and  the  land-slide  from  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  to  the 
"hero  of  Tippecanoe,"  William  Henry  Harrison,  illustrated  in  a  graphic 
way,  the  vagaries  of  "we  the  people."  But  Harrison's  brief  term  of  about  a 
month  closed  with  his  death.  John  Tyler  took  the  helm,  and  the  Tylerizeci 
administration  began  its  baleful  existence. 

Very  soon  plans  for  stealing  Texas  were  developing,  the  Mexican 
war  cloud  began  to  show  above  the  horizon,  and  mutterings,  both  loud 
and  deep  of  the  "irrepressible  conflict,"  were  heard  in  all  sections  of  the 
country.  Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  Hayne,  Van  Buren,  Lewis  Cass,  Roger 
B.  Taney>  of  malodorous  memory,  and  slippery,  foxy  James  Buchanan, 
whose  name  brings  the  blush  of  shame  to  the  cheeks  of  his  countrymen; 
these  were  some  of  the  men  who  were  at  the  front  in  the  days  whereof 
we  speak. 

By  the  year  1820,  literature  in  the  United  States  had  assumed  a  re- 
spectable attitude,  and  the  question  was  no  longer  sneeringly  asked  in 
England,  "who  reads  an  American  book?"  Lwing,  Cooper,  Bryant,  Long- 
fellow, Jared  Sparks,  John  Marshall  and  a  few  others,  were  gaining  a 
favorable  recognition  in  the  realms  of  authorship,  and  were  building  up  a 
purely  American  literature  of  permanent  value.*** 

In  medical  literature  not  very  rapid  strides  had  been  made,  which  is 
by  no  means  to  be  wondered  at,  since  ample  clinical  facilities  and  prolonged 
clinical  study  and  observation,  must  precede  authorship  in  the  domain  of 
practical  medicine  and  surgery;  and  in  the  two  decades  from  1820  to 
1840,  adequate  opportunities  for  clinical  study  were  few  and  far  between 
in  the  LTnited  States.  As  a  consequence,  in  those  days,  text-books  and 
monographs  on  medicine  and  surgery  were  mainly  either  those  which  were 
written  in  England  or  translations  of  books  written  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.     Nevertheless,  a  creditable  beginning  had  been  made  in  the  devel-. 


^History  of  the  American  People,  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  iv.,  63. 
**0/'.  cit.  p.  71. 

***For  much  of  the  above  T  am  indebted  to  that  ideal  work,  McMaster's  "History 
of  the  American  People." 


12  INTRODUCTORY 

opment  of  a  purely  American  medical  literature.  Chapman's  "Therapeu- 
tics and  ^Materia  Medica,"  Samuel  Jackson's  "Principles  of  Medicine," 
Eberle's  "Practice  of  Medicine,"  Bartlett's  "Fevers  of  the  United  States," 
Hosack's  "Lectures  on  Theory  and  Practice,''  the  writings  of  Dr.  Daniel 
Drake,  and  various  monographs,  among  which  Dr.  W.  W.  Gerhard's  "Trea- 
tise en  Diagnosis  of  Diseases  of  the  Chest"  deserves  prominent  mention ; 
these  are  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  American  works  on  the  Practice 
of  Medicine  and  cognate  subjects,  to  which  the  young  American  physi- 
cian had  access  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century. 

For  many  years  perhaps  Dunglison's  "System  of  Physiology''  was  the 
standard,  and  the  same  should  be  said  of  his  "Medical  Dictionary,"  a  work 
which  gave  him  the  sobriquet  of  "Dictionary  Dunglison." 

In  the  domain  of  surger}-,  Dr.  Geo.  ]\IcClellan's  "Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Surgery,"  Gibson's  "Institutes  and  Practice  of  Surgery,"  Dorsey's 
"Elements  of  Surgery,"  Gross'  "Diseases  and  Injuries  of  the  Bones  and 
Joints,"  and  a  few  other  works  of  less  importance  occupied  the  field  of 
i\meiican  surgical   authorship. 

In  the  field  of  obstetrics  and  diseases  of  women,  the  works  of  Dewees, 
Hugh  L.  Hodge  and  Chas.  D.  Aleigs,  easily  took  and  held  the  lead 
for  many  years,  as  they  were  clearly  entitled  to  do.  They  were  three  re- 
markable men,  and  they  exercised  a  remarkable  influence  upon  the  medical 
profession  of  their  generation. 

The  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  in  the  days  whereof  we  write, 
was  as  unlike  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgerv  at  the  present  day  as 
it  is  possible  to  imagine.  The  practice  of  medicine  was,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  a  great  system  of  empiricism.  In  fact  it  could  not  be  other- 
wise. "Scientific"  medicine  was  not  even  in  its  infancy;  it  was  yet  in 
utero,  there  to  remain  for  many  long  years,  and  then  to  undergo  a  slow 
and  wearisome  parturition,  followed  by  a  period  of  infancy  and  adoles- 
cence, before  it  emerged  into  manhood.  •  Those  of  us  who  remember  the 
practice  of  medicine  only  as  far  back  as  the  sixties,  can  testify  to  the  crude 
ideas  which  governed  the  equally  crude  methods  of  practice ;  and  when 
we  compare  the  methods  of  those  days  with  the  comparatively  enlightened 
and  scientific  methods  of  these  days,  we  can  realize,  as  the  younger  men 
cannot,  that  we  have  "seen  a  great  light." 

In  surgery,  the  story  is  about  the  same ;  of  course,  as  surgery  is  more 
mechanical,  and  the  surgeon's  work  is  more  immediatelv  under  his  eye 
than  is  the  work  of  the  physician,  better  results  ought  to  be  expected. 
Simple  fractures  were  probably  treated  as  successfully  by  the  elder  AA'ar- 
ren  as  they  are  by  the  most  skillful  surgeons  of  to-day.  But  operative  sur- 
gery was  fearfully  crude;  plastic  surgery  was  an  almost  untouched  field; 


INTRODUCTORY  1 3 

abdominal  surgery  was  a  bete  noir,  and  of  course  aseptic  surgery  was  not 
even  a  dream.  When  we  turn  to  the  department  of  obstretrics,  we  enter  a 
veritable  chamber  of  horrors.  It  was  a  rare  instance  when  the  parturient 
wouian  escaped  some  form  of  post-partuin  infection,  and  the  new-torn 
child  encountered  perils  of  which  it  was  happily  ignorant.  When  we 
consider  the  frightful  frecj^uency  of  puerperal  fever — against  which  the 
genial  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table  thundered  so  forcefully" — when  we 
consider  how  common  were  cases  of  pelvic  cellulitis,  mammary  abscess, 
septic  phlebitis,  not  to  mention  erysipelas,  unrecognized  albuminuria,  with 
an  occasional  case  of  auricular  embolism,  which  was  of  course  a  case  of 
"heart  failure ;"  and  then  when  we  thankfully  contemplate  ths  remarkable 
immunity  of  the  puerpera  from^  these  and  various  other  post-partum  acci- 
dents at  the  present  day,  we  begin  to  get  a  practical  and  tangible  realization 
of  the  changes  that  have  occurred  since  commencement  day  in  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Western  Nezv  York,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven. 

And  then  comes  the  c]uestion,  will  our  children  and  grandchildren  have 
occasion  to  exercise  the  same  degree  of  charity  towards  us;  that  we  are 
called  upon  to  extend  to  our  grandfathers? 

"Specialism"  was  almost  a  terra  incognita  seventy  years  ago,  and 
hence  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and  throat,  and  various  other  component  parts 
of  the  human  body,  had  comparatively  quiet  times,  but  they  are  making 
up  for  it  now.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  distinguished  physician 
whose  life  I  have  attempted  to  depict  in  the  following  pages,  was  no  ad- 
mirer of  "Specialism"  or  the  "Specialist"  in  medicine;  in  fact  as  he  never 
did  anything  by  halves,  he  had  a  thorough  contempt  for  "Specialists," 
which  he  could  not  have  concealed  if  he  would,  and  would  not  if  he 
could.  Perhaps  this  was  due  in  part  to  the  absurd  divisions  and  subdivis- 
ions of  "specialism"  in  this  our  day,  which  is  not  calculated  to  inspire  re- 
spect either  inside  or  outside  the  profession,**  while  it  does  encourage  the 
alarming  increase  of  quack  and  semi-quack  specialists,  which  are  almost 
as  numerous  as  the  frogs  of  Egypt  and  decidedly  more  dangerous.  It  is 
no  wonder  that  a  physician  of  the  olden  time,  and  one  not  given  to  chang- 
ing his  mind  with  every  change  of  wind,  should  have  looked  with  no. 
friendly  eyes  upon  an  innovation  so  far-reaching  and  revolutionary.  After 
all,  the  wonder  is  that  the  physician  of  half  or  three-quarters  of  a  century 
ago,  achieved  such  good  results  with  such  indifferent  means ;  we  who  sur- 


*As  late  as  1870,  a  justly  distinguished  professor  of  obstetrics  in  Chicag'o  told 
the  author  that  puerperal  fever  was  not  contagious. 

**Not  long  since  a  lady  called  upon  the  author,  and  inquired  if  he  knew  a  spe- 
cialist who  "doctored  the  liver  and  nothing  else"  ! 


14  INTRODUCTORY 

vive  them  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude,  honor  and  respect,  utterly  beyond 
our  abiHty  to  Hquidate. 

The  Hfe  of  the  farmer  and  of  the  minister  and  of  the  lawyer,  seventy 
vears  ago,  varied  as  much  from  that  of  the  present  day  as  did  the  life 
of  the  doctor,  but  we  cannot  enter  into  lengthy  details.  They  all  helped  to 
develop  this  splendid  country  of  ours,  and  make  it  what  it  is  to-day.  The 
clergy  were  a  devoted  band  of  men  who  '"did  justly,  loved  mercy,  and 
walked  humblv  with  their  God."'  The  lawyers  perhaps  did  the  same  thing, 
but  this  present  author  would  not  like  to  give  a  written  guarantee  to 
that  effect.  But  the  .farmer's  life,  and  the  life  of  the  farmer's  wiie,  could 
not  be  compared  with  the  conditions  of  to-day.  The  whirr  of  the  spin- 
nine  wheel,  the  chug  of  the  old-fashioned  churn,  and  the  dismal  creak  of 
the  ancient  cheese  press  were  still  heard  in  the  land.  Farming  was  done 
bv  hand ;  the  slow-going  oxen  hauled  the  plow ;  the  scythe  whisked 
through  the  sweet-smelling  hay,  and  the  sickle  laid  low  the  golden  grain; 
in  autumn  the  old  cider  mill  groaned  aloud  as  it  crushed  the  juicy  apples, 
aid  th'j  husiving  bee.  with  its  "red  ear"  frolics,  came  with  the  first  snow 
flakes.  In  winter  the  sound  of  the  flail  was  heard,  the  farmer  took  his 
grist  to  the  mill,  and  his  boys  and  girls  to  singing  school,  to  spelling- 
school,  and  with  a  thankful  heart,  to  church  on  the  Sabbath. 

At  such  an  epoch,  and  amid  such  an  environment  did  Dr.  X.  S.  Davis 
begin  his  professional  life,  which  was  to  last  more  than  sixty  years.  It 
falls  to  the  lot  of  few  men  to  witness  such  marvelous  changes  and  such 
prodigious  advances,  in  everything  that  means  progress  and  increased  com- 
fort and  happiness  for  his  fellowmen. 


CHAPTER  1. 

Childhood— Youth— College  Days. 

Nathan  Smith  Davis  was  born  on  the  9th  of  January,  1817,  in  a  log- 
house,  in  the  town  of  Greene,  County  of  Chenango,  and  State  of  New  York. 
His  parents  were  among  'the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  midst  of  the  virgin 
forests  of  that  then  far  western  region.  His  father's  name  was  Dow  Davis, 
who  lived  to  the  extraordinary  age  of  ninety  years,  and  died  upon  the  farm 
which  he  had  reclaimed  from  the  primitive  forest  and  its  savage  denizens. 
His  first  name  he  derived  in  some  unexplained  way  from  Rev.  Lorenzo  Dow, 
a  very  eccentric,  yet  very  able,  vagrant  preacher,  who  started  out  as  a 
Methodist,  but  ended  in  "no-man's-land,"  after  wandering  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  then  civilized  world. 

Dr.  Davis'  mother's  maiden  name  was  Eleanor  Smith.  She  died  in 
1824  when  young  Nathan  was  but  seven  years  old. 

No  greater  calamity  can  possibly  happen  to  a  child  of  tender  years  than 
the  loss  of  a  mother,  and  the  watchful,  loving  care,  which  only  a  mother  can 
give.  At  a  complimentary  banquet  given  to  Dr.  Davis  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession of  Chicago,  October  5th,  1901,  when  the  doctor  was  84  years  old,  he 
made  the  following  touching  and  beautiful  references  to  his  mother:  "At 
the  age  of  seven  years,  as  a  boy  who  had  never  been  outside  of  his  father's 
farm,  born  in  a  log  house,  and  when  still  in  a  log-  house,  I  was  called  to  the 
hedside  of  my  dying  mother  to  receive  her  last  words.  I  was  the  youngest 
of  a  family  of  seven  children;  I  was  in  my  seventh  year.  It  made  a  vivid 
impression  upon  my  mind.  She  was  a  Christian — a  reader  of  the  Bible.  She 
said  to  me  that  she  wished  me  to  be  a  good  boy,  to  learn  to  worship  God, 
.and  to  do  good  to  my  fellowmen.  I  promised  her  I  would.  Of  course  I 
-did  not  realize  the  importance  or  bearing  of  that  promise  at  that  early  period 
of  life,  but  an  impression  was  made  upon  my  mind,  and  from  that  day  to 
this  the  rule  of  my  life  has  been  that  whatever  comes  up  that  seems  to  be  im- 
portant and  will  improve  my  fellowmen,  my  impulse  is  to  do  what  I  can  to 
"help  it  along."*  Noble  words ;  and  true  to  the  letter,  as  Dr.  Davis  exam- 
plified  throughout  his  long  and  fruitful  life. 

Dr.  Davis'  name,  "Nathan  Smith,"  was  derived  from  a  maternal  uncle, 
and  not  from  the  eminent  Doctor  Nathan  Smith,  of  Cornish,  New  Hamp- 


' Report  of  Testimonial  Banquet/'  October,  1901. 


l6  CHILDHOOD- — YOL'TH COLLEGE  DAYS 

shire,  the  founder  of  the  ^ledical  Department  of  Dartmouth  College,,  as  so 
many  of  us  have  supposed. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  ancestry  of  either  of  Dr.  Davis"  par- 
ents with  anything  like  satisfaction  or  certaint}'.  That  they  emigrated  from 
]\Ia5sachusetts  to  central  Xew  York  seems  certain;  that  they  joined  the  Pur- 
itan hegira  from  England  during  the  days  of  the  Stuart  persecutions  seems 
altogether  probable,  but  cannot  be  stated  with  certainty. 

Young  Nathan's  childhood  was  monotonously  uneventful.  The  farmers' 
sons,  in  the  pioneer  days  of  New  England  and  western  New  York,  were 
brought  up  to  "'work."  and  well  they  knew  what  that  uncompromising  little 
word  meant.  "AA'ork''  meant  getting  up  with  the  sun,  and  "working"  till  the 
sun  went  down ;  the  same  routine,  day  after  day,  with  only  the  vacation 
which  a  rainy  day,  or  Training  Day,  or  East  Day,  or  Thanksgiving  Day,  or 
Eourth  of  July,  or  the  rigid  solemnity  of  the  Sabbath  brought.  Earming  in 
those  days  was  all  done  "by  hand,"  and  hard  and  weary  work  it  was.  When 
winter  came  there  was  three  or  four  months  of  "schooling,"  but  every  winter 
brought  a  new  teacher,  and  generally  one  whose  qualifications  were  limited 
to  such  text  books  as  Webster's  Spelling  Book,  Adam's  Arithmetic,  Lindley 
Murray's  Grammar  and  ^Morse's  Geography.  The  teachers  of  those  days, 
however,  were  usually  pretty  proficient  in  the  use  of  a  well-selected  rod  of 
birch,  annealed  and  toughened  in  the  hot  ashes  of  the  fire-place  or  stove. 

And  thus  the  first  sixteen  years  of  young  Davis'  life  passed  away.  We 
do  not  learn  that  he  did  any  heroic  deeds,  or  encountered  any  romantic 
episodes,  or  gave  any  special  promise  of  future  greatness  or  usefulness.  He 
was  simply  a  "good  boy,"  according  to  the  promise  made  to  his  dying" 
mother;  industrious,  faithful,  truthful  and  eminently  in  earnest  in  whatever 
he  undertook.  But  during  these  early  years  of  hard  work  his  appetite 
for  knowledge  began  to  manifest  itself,  and  it  grew  as  he  grew,  and  very 
early  in  his  life  it  became,  not  a  "passion,"  but  a  deeply-settled,  all-pervasive 
motive,  which  dominated  his  thoughts  and  his  plans  for  the  future.  His 
fondness  for  study,  his  aptitude  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  a  consecjuent 
languor  and  want  of  interest  in  farming  pursuits  very  soon  attracted  his 
father's  notice,  and  convinced  him  that  the  boy  ought  to  have  some  facilities 
for  acquiring  an  education  better  and  broader  than  those  afforded  bv  the 
district-school.  His  decision  was  probabh'  hastened  by  the  fact  that  on  go- 
ing to  the  field  on  a  certain  occasion,  he  found  Nathan  trying  to  guide  a 
plough,  which  the  slow-moving  oxen  were  hauling,  in  the  proper  direction 
with  one  hand,  while  in  the  other  he  held  a  book  in  which  his  attention  was 
absorbed.  Dow  Davis  was  not  very  familiar  with  books,  but  he  did  knowv 
from  long  experience,  that  effective  plowing  required  the  undivided  atten- 
tion of  two  hands  and  a  head,  as  well  as  a  voke  of  oxen,  and  he  at  once 


CHILDHOOD YOUTH COLLEGE  DAYS  \J 

resolved  that  Nathan  should  plough  in  a  different  and  more  attractive  field. 
It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Dow  Davis  that  he  had  the  perception  to  dis- 
cover the  type  and  bent  of  Nathan's  mind,  and  that,  out  of  his  limited  means, 
he  found  a  way  to  send  his  ambitious  and  promising  son  to  the  neighboring 
Cazenovia  Seminary,  if  only  for  a  single  term.  But  that  single  term  was 
sufiicient  to  demonstrate  to  the  boy  of  only  sixteen,  that  "knowledge  is 
power,"  and  that  unremitting"  industry  is  the  key  to  its  possession.  It  is 
altogether  probable  that  the  discipline  which  the  plastic  youth  of  sixteen  re- 
ceived during  that  single  term  in  Cazenovia  Seminary  determined  his 
future  course  in  life,  and  shaped  the  habit  of  systematic  industry  which  he 
followed  to  his  dying  day. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1834,  when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  old, 
Nathan  Smith  Davis  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  preceptor- 
ship  of  Dr.  Daniel  Clark,  of  Chenango  County,  New  York,  and  "worked" 
for  his  board. 

It  would  be  hardly  possible  to  make  a  more  drastic  commentary  on  the 
system  of  medical  education  as  it  was  carried  on  seventy  years  ago  than  the 
simple  statement  of  the  above  fact.  A  youth  seventeen  years  old,  with  prac- 
tically no  previous  preparatory  training,  is  allowed  to  enroll  himself  as  a 
medical  student,  complete  the  required  course  in  less  than  three  years,  and 
assume  the  highest  responsibiHties  in  the  reach  of  man,  while  he  is  yet  a 
beardless  youth;  and  in  the  present  case  such  was  the  literal  fact,  for  yorlng 
Davis  graduated  from  the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Western 
New  York"  in  January,  1837,  "with  distinguished  honor,"  says  one  of  his, 
eulogists.  Between  the  date  of  his  registration  as  a  medical  student  under 
Dr.  Clark,  his  preceptor,  and  his  graduation  "with  distinguished  honor," 
there  was  a  period  of  two  years  and  nine  months,  and  at  his  graduation 
he  was  just  twenty  years  old;  in  other  words,  an  "infant"  in  the  eyes  of 
the  law.  Yet  the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Western  New 
York" — a  school  which  perished  of  inanition  long  ago — never  did  a  greater 
or  worthier  thing  than  when  it  created  Nathan  Smith  Davis  a  doctor  of 
medicine,  and  the  31st  of  January,  1837,  proved  to  be  an  epoch-making  day 
in  the  history  of  American  medicine.  In  all  fairness,  however,  it  should  be 
said  that  the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Western  New  York" 
was  a  school  of  excellent  standing  in  its  day,  ranking  along  with  the  Berk- 
shire Medical  School  'at  Pittsfield,  Mass. ;  the  Dartmouth  School  of  Medi- 
cine,'" and  other  well  known  country  schools,  which  have  long  since  been 
absorbed  by  the  larger  schools  with  clinical  facilities.  Many  eminent  men 
occupied  its  professorships,  and  many  eminent  men  received  its  diplomas. 


*The   Dartmouth    School   of   Medicine   is   still   in   the   front   rank,    and   is   doing 
excellent  work. 


l8  CHILDHOOD— YOUTH — COLLEGE  DAYS 

Among  its  professors  was  T.  Romeyn  Beck,  whose  lectures  on  medical 
jurisprudence  charmed  young  Davis,  and  awakened  in  him  a  lasting  interest 
in  that  branch. 

Young  Davis  attended  three  courses  of  lectures  prior  to  his  graduation^ 
and  found  himself  wondering  at  the  fact  that  the  three  courses  were  all  alike, 
and  that  all  the  students  attended  all  the  lectures,  and  travelled  exactly  the 
same  course  from  ^-ear  to  year.  In  other  words,  even  before  his  own  gradua- 
tion, the  inconsistencies  and  incongruities  of  the  system  of  medical  education 
as  it  was  carried  on  became  apparent  to  him,  and  the  germs  of  the  "graded 
course"  took  root  in  his  mind,  to  ripen  into  a  solid  and  enduring  monument 
to  his  creative  genius  in  the  years  to  follow. 

We  know  Jiothing  of  N.  S.  Davis'  student  days,  but  it  is  perfectly  safe  to 
assume  that  he  was  a  hard-working  student,  who  made  the  most  of  his  time 
and  opportunities ;  that  he  was  faithful  in  his  attendance  upon  the  lectures 
and  recitations ;  that  in  the  correctness  of  his  deportment  he  was  an  example 
to  his  classmates  and  a  delight  to  his  teachers,  and  we  can  easily  imagine 
that  he  may  have  asked  those  teachers  some  puzzling  questions  now  and 
then,  and  that  his  grave,  earnest,  serious  face,  prominent  forehead  and 
Gladstonian  nose  would  attract  their  attention,  and  extort  from  them  some 
predictions  as  to  the  future  of  that  unusual  student.  His  biographer  also 
feels  perfectly  safe  in  hazarding  the  assertion  that  the  student  by  the  name 
of  Davis  never  was  "passed  up,"  never  smoked  cigarettes,  never  came  home 
at  night  when  he  was  unable  to  find  the  keyhole,  never  fell  in  love  with  the 
"college  widow,"  and  never  indulged  in  any  of  the  rowdyish  freaks  which 
have  always  accentuated  and  frequently  disgraced  studeni  life. 

A  short  time  prior  to  his  graduation,  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Jackson,  of  Binghamton,  New  York,  as  a  student,  and  remained 
with  Dr.  Jackson  until  he  received  his  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine.  As 
Dr.  Jackson  was  a  practitioner  of  more  than  average  ability  and  enjoyed  a 
large  and  varied  practice,  young  Davis'  advantages  in  a  clinical  way  were 
undoubtedly  much  improved  by  the  change  from  Dr.  Clark,  his  first  precep- 
tor. 

In  days  of  vore,  every  candidate  for  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine 
was  required  to  write  a  "thesis,"  and  he  might  be  required  to  read  and  de- 
fend it  before  the  faculty  of  his  college.  The  subject  of  Dr.  Davis'  graduat- 
ing thesis  was  "Animal  Temperatures,"  and  in  this  he  combated  the  (then) 
generally  accepted  theory  that  the  evolution  of  animal  heat  had  its  origin  in 
the  union  of  oxygen  and  carbon  in  the  lungs,  maintaining  that  its  evolution 
was  in  the  tissues.  The  inherent  merit  of  his  argument  was  such,  and  the 
premises  upon  which  it  rested  were  so  accurately  established  by  experimental 
investigation,  that  the  faculty  of  the  college  selected  it  as  one  of  those  to  be 


CHILDHOOD YOUTH — COLLEGE  DAYS  1 9 

publicly  read  on  the  day  of  graduation/'-  That  Dr.  Davis,  at  the  age  of  20 
could  write  such  a  thesis,  and  especially  one  that  was  thought  worthy  of 
graduation  honors,  seems  very  remarkable.  For  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
he  was  only  a  youthful  farmer's  son,  whose  educational  advantages  had  been 
very  meagre,  and  that  his  opportunities  for  scientific  experimentation  must 
have  been  scanty  indeed. 

And  now,  the  die  is  cast:  Nathan  Smith  Davis  is  a  "doctor,"  and  the 
proud  possessor  of  a  "sheepskin,"  tied  with  a  bright  ribbon,  sealed  with  the 
college  seal,  signed  by  the  "professors,"  and  the  whole  thing  done  in  college 
Latin,  either  good  or  bad — and  to  the  majority  of  students  in  those  days, 
it  did  not  make  much  difference  which. 

The  farewells  are  said,  the  usual  promises  "to  write"  are  made,  but  not 
kept,  and  the  young  doctors  scatter  to  the  four  winds,  never  to  meet  again 
on  earth.  The  future  career  of  one  of  them  we  shall  endeavor  to  trace  in 
the  succeeding  chapters. 

'^"Group  of  Distinguished  Physicians  and  Surgeons,"  p.  2. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Marriage;  Early  Professional  Life. 

Some  time  during  the  month  of  February,  1837,  a  new  and  very  youth- 
ful doctor  appeared  in  the  Httle  village  of  Vienna,  Oneida  county,  New 
York.  His  name  was  Nathan  Smith  Davis,  and  then  and  there  a  remark- 
able man  began  his  long  and  eventful  career.  Dr.  Davis  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Dr.  Daniel  Chatfield,  of  Menna,  and  we  can  easily  imagine  that 
Dr.  Chatfield  soon  found  that  his  youthful  partner  had  some  positive  notions 
of  his  own,  in  spite  of  his  inexperience,  ^^'e  know  nothing  concerning  his 
life  in  Menna,  except  that  he  found  time  to  fall  in  love  with  ]\Iiss  Anna 
I\Iaria  Parker,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Parker,  of  Vienna,  and  that  they 
were  married  on  the  5th  day  of  i\'Iarch,  1838.  Dr.  Davis  died  June  16th, 
1904;  therefore,  they  lived  together  the  almost  unprecedented  term  of 
sixty-six  years,  three  months  and  eleven  days !  It  does  not  need  to  be 
said  that  they  lived  in  beautiful  harmony,  and  that  wedded  life  was  never 
more  felicitous,  never  more  ideal,  and  never  came  nearer  fulfilling  the  lofty 
requirements  of  its  Divine  author  than  in  the  case  of  Nathan  Smith  Davis, 
aged  twenty-one  years,  and  ]\Iaria  Parker  Davis,  aged  seventeen  years,  at 
the  time  of  their  marriage. 

There  were  born  to  them  three  children :  Ellen  Parker  Davis,  born 
April  1 2th,  1842. 

Frank  Howard  Davis,  born  June  5th,  1848;  died  Aug.  17,  1880.  He 
attended  the  University  of  Michigan  for  two  }'ears  and  graduated  from 
Chicago  Medical  College  in  1871.  He  entered  into  practice  in  Chicago  and 
gave  great  promise  of  usefulness,  and  his  untimely  death  was  a  loss  to 
the  profession  and  to  the  city. 

Nathan  Smith  Davis.  Jr.,  born  Sept.  5th.  1858,.  now  in  practice  in 
Chicago,  and  late  Dean  of  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School. 

The  field  of  operations  in  A'ienna  seems  to  have  been  too  narrow 
for  the  expanding  energies  of  our  young  doctor,  and  in  July,  1837,  less 
than  six  months  after  he  went  there,  his  partnership  with  Dr.  Chatfield 
was  dissolved,  and  he  went  to  Binghamton,  New  York,  where,  it  is 
stated,  "he  at  once  commanded  professional  confidence  and  popular  patron- 
age"— an  oratorical  explosion  that  must  probably  be  taken  cum  i^rano 
salis.     It   is   altogether  more   likelv  that  he  had  the  usual   experience   of 


marriage;  early  professional  life  21 

young  doctors,  and  that  his  entry  into  practice  was  slow  and  progressive. 
But  we  may  be  very  sure  that  his  time  was  not  spent  in  idleness,  or  frivolity. 

During  these  early  years  of  his  professional  life,  Dr.  Davis  was  a 
hard-working  and  very  systematic  student.  He  studied  Latin,  all  alone, 
and  made  himself  a  respectable  Latin  scholar ;  he  studied  botany  and  made 
himself  an  expert  botanist:  he  made  himself  familiar  with  the  principles 
and  ground  work  of  chemistry,  geology  and  political  economy,  besides  giv- 
ing' particular  attention  to  surgical  anatomy,  as  his  practice  was  largely 
surgical.  He  also  kept  in  familiar  touch  with  the  current  literature  of  the 
day,  and  hence  he  soon  became  known  as  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
progressive  young  men  in  Bing'hamton.  During  the  winter  months,  he 
pursued  the  study  of  practical  anatomy  by  dissecting  one  or  two  cadavers, 
and  he  frequently  responded  to  requests  to  lecture  on  physiology,  botany, 
chemistry  and  allied  subjects  before  the  classes  of  the  Binghamton 
Academy,  at  that  time  a  school  of  considerable  local  repute,  and  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  founders.  He  also  had  a  hand  in  organizing  the  "Lyceum 
Debating  Society  of  Binghamton,"  and  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  he  did 
his  full  share  of  the  debating.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  his  intellectual 
gymnastics  before  the  Lyceum  Debating  Society  of  Binghamton,  can- 
tributed  materiall}''  towards  making  him  the  powerful  and  incisive  debater 
which  in  his  later  years  rendered  him  such  a  terror  to  his  opponents. 

In  the  year  1840  (three  years  after  his  graduation),  'he  won  the  first 
prize  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society,  for  the  best  essay  on  "Dis- 
eases of  the  Spinal  Column;  their  Causes,  Diagnosis  and  Treatment."  In 
1 84 1  he  captured  another  prize  as  a  reward  for  a  paper  entitled,  "Analysis 
of  the  Discoveries  Concerning  the  Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System." 
These  two  essays  were  widely  read,  and  attracted  considerable  notice  and 
comment  from  the  medical  profession  of  his  native  state. 

Soon  after  his  settlement  in  Binghamton,  he  was  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  Broome  County  Medical  Society,  of  which  organization  he  was 
Secretary  from  1841  to  1843,  and  Librarian  from  1843  to  1847,  besides  be- 
ing a  member  of  the  Board  of  Censors  for  several  years.  In  1844,  he  was 
chosen  a  delegate  to  represent  the  Broome  County  Medical  Society  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  at  Albany.  And  this  appear- \ 
ance  of  Dr.  Davis,  as  a  delegate  to  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society,  ' 
in  1844,  must  be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  his  long  and  remarkable 
public  life ;  a  life  which  was  none  the  less  public  and  none  the  less  notable 
because  it  was  nearly  all  spent  in  connection  with,  and  for  the  uplifting  of, 
the  medical  profession.  "^ 

When  this  grave,  serious,  albeit  modest  3^oung  man  made  his  ap- 
pearance   in   Albany,    and   presented   his    credentials    as    a    delegate    from 


22  MARRIAGE  ;    EARLY    PROFESSIONAL    LIFE 

Broome  County,  he  must  have  been  considerably  surprised  to  find  that 
his  reputation  as  a  writer,  and  a  clear-headed  and  incisive  reasoner,  had 
preceded  him,  and  we  can  easily  picture  his  embarrassment  at  finding  him- 
self so  well  and  so  favorably  known.  It  is  stated  that  "when  he  took  his 
seat  as  a  delegate  in  the  body  which  represented  the  highest  medical  learn- 
ing of  the  State,  his  voice  was  heard  with  respectful  attention.'"*  Even 
at  this  earW  date,  and  during  his  first  term  of  attendance  upon  the  Xew 
York  State  Medical  Society,  he  commenced  that  remarkable  campaign 
in  the  interests  of  higher  medical  education,  which  led  very  soon  to  the 
establishment  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  at  a  later  stage 
to  the  adoption  of  his  plan,  substantially,  of  medical  education,  not  only 
in  Chicago,  but  all  over  this  country.  But  this  subject  will  claim  our 
attention  in  extenso,  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

After  about  ten  years  of  active  practice  in  Binghamton,  Dr.  Davis 
decided  to  transfer  his  activities  to  a  still  larger  field,  and  he  accordingly 
removed  to  New  York  City  in  the  summer  of  1847.  His  life  in  Bingham- 
ton was  evidently  a  ver}-  active  and  busy  one.  His  practice — which  was 
the  very  "general"  practice  of  a  country  physician  sixty  years  ago — was 
a  strenuous  -and  laborious  one.  Only  those  who  have  experienced  the 
multifarious  perplexities  and  responsibilities  which  used  to  beset  the  coun- 
try doctor,  can  actually  sec  Dr.  Davis  as  he  made  his  weary  rounds,  up 
hill  and  down,  night  and  day,  in  the  heat  of  summer  and  cold  of  winter^ 
in  rain  or  snow,  and  wind  or  dust,  carrying  and  dispensing  his  medicines 
from  saddlebags  or  trunk,  and  ministering  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men,  women  and  children,  with  all  sorts  of  complaints,  real  and  imaginary, 
surgical,  medical,  obstetrical  and  psychical,  to  say  nothing  of  the  tooth- 
pulling  with  the  invincible  old  "turnkey,"  and  the  spring  and  autumn 
venesections,  which  almost  came  to  be  a  "fetich"  not  only  with  the  people, 
but  with  many  of  the  practitioners  of  half  a  century  ago.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  imagine  that  his  active  mind  travelled  far  .taster  than  his  body  could 
traverse  the  gravelled  roads,  and  that  during  these  years  of  early  toil,  he 
was  planting  the  seed'  which  should  bear  such  splendid  fruitage  in  his  more 
mature  years. 

^^  During  his  Binghamton  decade,  he  was  a  busy  and  systematic  stu- 
dent; the  natural  sciences,  Latin,  English  literature,  political  economy, 
and  medical  jurisprudence,  each  by  turn,  claimed  his  attention,  and  he  be- 
came, in  no  narrow  sense,  not  a  "classic  scholar,"  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  pedagogue,  but  an  all-aroiuid  learned  man,  with  a  broad,  practical 
knowledge  of  matters  and  things,  and  with  the  ability  to  make  use  of  his 

*0p.  Cit.,  p.  3. 


marriage;  early  prop-essional  life  23. 

knowledge  in  furthering  the  best  interests,  first  of  his  profession,  and  sec- 
ondly of  his  communit3^ 

During  these  initial  years,  also,  he  dabbled  a  little  in  politics,  and 
during  the  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too"  campaign,  he  "stumped"  Broome 
County,  in  the  interests  of  the  Democratic  party,  for  Dr.  Davis  was  a  "dyed 
in  the  wool"  Democrat."  He  likewise  lectured  on  various  topics  to  various 
political,  social,  scientific  and  religious  bodies,  wrote  many  articles,  mostly 
on  medical  subjects,  and  mostly  ephemeral,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  he 
did  not  forget  that  death-bed  scene  of  his  childhood,  and  that  he  did  not 
neglect  the  worship  of  God,  or  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

At  the  time  of  his  removal  to  New  York  City,  in  the  summer  of 
1847,  ^^-  Davis  was  thirty  years  old,  and  he  probably  concluded  that  it 
was  time  for  him  to  "settle  for  life."  New  York  City  was  at  that  time 
rapidly  approaching  its  position  as  the  American  metropolis.  Its  popula- 
tion was  something  over  four  hundred  thousand,  and  it  was  growing  very 
rapidly.  It  was  also  assuming  a  notable  importance  as  a  centre  of  medical 
education,  and  that  of  course  presented  a  strong  attraction  to  a  young 
and  ambitious  medical  man.  It  was  therefore  quite  the  natural  thing  that 
Dr.  Davis  should  decide  to  remove  to  the  great  city,  where  the  advantages 
were  so  superior  and  so  many.  Yet  his  stay  in  New  York  was  only  for 
two  years ;  not  long  enough  for  anything  very  decisive  or  eventful  to  oc- 
cur. He  entered  into  general  practice,  with  what  degree  of  success  we 
have  no  very  definite  information.  It  goes  without  saying  that  he  con- 
nected himself  with  the  local  medical  organizations,  and  that  he  was  wel- 
comed by  the  profession  with  the  courtesy  to  which  his  merits  and  his 
recognized  ability  entitled  him.  His  first  experience  as  a  medical  teacher 
occurred  in  New  York,  when  he  was  given  charge  of  the  dissecting  rooms 
of  the  New  York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  entered  upon 
the  teaching  of  practical  anatomy.  He  also  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
upon  Medical  Jurisprudence — his  favorite  study — during  the  spring  term 
of  1848,  by  special  invitation  of  the  faculty  of  the  same  institution. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  very  few  medi- 
cal men  are  qualified  to  lecture  upon  a  subject  so  far  out  of  the  trodden 
paths  of  medical  education  as  Medical  Jurisprudence,  and  especially  an 
ordinary  practitioner  so  young  as  Dr.  Davis  then  was.  In  fact  it  must 
be  regarded  as  a  very  high  compliment  to  him  that  he  was  "specially  in- 
vited" by  the  faculty  of  his  college  to  deliver  these  lectures,  and  it  must 
also  be  accepted  as  indubitable  evidence  of  the  broad  range  of  his  knowl- 
edge, and  the  masterful  grasp  of  his  mind,  even  at  this  early  day. 

But  Davis'  stay  in  New  York  was  destined  to  be  brief,  and  after  \ 
spending  a  little  more  than  two  years  in  the  metropolis  of  the  Empire  State, 


^^4  marriage;  early  professional  life 

he  gathered  up  his  "lares  and  penates"  and  began  his  long  and  weary  jour 
ney  by  railway,  stage,  canal  boat,  and  "packet"  to  the  then  shabby  and 
muddy  town  by  the  great  inland  sea,  which  was  to  become  the  metroDolis 
not  only  of  the  Prairie  State,  but  of  the  great  and  wonderful  west.    Thither 
we  will  follow  him,  and  there  we  will  study  and  admire,  even  if  we  cannot 
mutate,  his  long,  eventful  and  altruistic  career. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Removal   to   Chicago — Connection   with   Rush    Medical    College.  \ 

One  who  walks  through  the  stately  streets  of  Chicago  in  this  year  of 
grace,  1907,  can  hardly  imagine  its  condition  fifty-eight  years  ago.  Its 
population  was  then  about  23,000,  whereof  the  great  majority  were  em- 
ployed in  operating  the  growing  industrial  interests  of  the  city.  The 
buildings  were  mainly  of  wood,  with  little  attempt  at  elegance  or  architec- 
ture. The  streets  were  mostly  unpaved,  and  were  either  wretchedly  dusty 
or  wretchedly  muddy.  Many  of  the  highways  were  rendered  impassable 
by  a  moderate  rainstorm,  and  signs  reading  "no  bottom"  were  frequently 
seen  in  the  middle  of  the  streets  warning  teamsters  to  avoid  the  quagmires 
which  would  engulf  them  if  they  dared  venture  to  disregard  the  timely  cau- 
tion. But  the  city  was  growing  with  great  rapidity,  and  was  already  giving 
promise  of  its  future  greatness,  which  has  so  far  surpassed  the  expectations 
of  its  most  enthusiastic  citizens.  Nevertheless,  it  was  anything  but  an 
alluring  place,  for  a  permanent  residence,  for  a  man  of  high  intellectual 
or  scientific  attainments,  especially  when  compared  with  New  York  City, 
with  its  schools,  libraries,  museums  and  other  products  of  wealth  and  ma- 
turity. At  first  glance,  then,  it  must  cause  considerable  surprise  that  a  man 
of  the  ability  and  prospects  of  N.  S.  Davis  should  exchange  the  great  ad- 
vantages of  New  York,  where  he  was  well  known  and  well  established,  for 
the  meagre  advantages  of  Chicago,  where  he  was  a  total  stranger. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1849,  Dr.  John  Evans,  of  Chicago,  professor  of 
Obstetrics  in  Rush  Medical  College  of  that  city,  attending  the  third  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Medical  Association,  while  in  Boston  met  Dr.  Davis, 
and  invited  him  to  accept  the  chair  of  physiology  and  general  pathology  in 
]R-Ush  College,  those  two  branches  being  then  united  in  one  chair.  Dr. 
Davis  accepted,  but  did  not  arrive  in  Chicago  until  September,  about  the 
usual  time  for  the  beginning  of  the  lecture  term.  His  first  lecture  in  Rush 
was  delivered  in  October,  1849.  Rush  Medical  College,  (named  after  the 
eminent  Dr.  Benj.  Rush  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  1775)  was  founded  in  1843,  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  by  Dr. 
Daniel  Brainard.  It  was  therefore  in  the  sixth  year  of  its  existence  when 
Dr.  Davis  connected  himself  with  it.  Its  first  permanent  building,  at  the 
corner  of  North  Dearborn  and  Indiana  Streets,  had  recently  been  built,  and 
the  prospects  of  the  college  as  to  permanency  and  prosperity  were  very 
flattering.     The  rapid  growth  of  Chicago  and  of  the  vast  area  tributary 


26  REMOVAL   TO    CHICAGO 

thereto  gave  great  promise  of  development  and  usefulness  to  Rush,  then  the 
only  medical  school  within  a  radius  of  several  hundred  miles.  Moreover, 
the  personality  and  reputation  of  such  men  as  John  Evans  and  Daniel 
Brainard  were  sure  to  attract  students,  and  thus  guaranree  the  success  and 
-stability  of  the  school.  Such  considerations  as  these  doubtless  appealed  to 
Dr.  Davis,  and  were  efficient  make-weights  in  influencing  his  decision  to 
cast  his  future  lot  with  the  young  city  and  the  younger  medical  school. 

Here  we  find  him,  then,  in  the  early  autumn  of  1849  with  his  devoted 
wife  and  two  young  children,  entering  upon  his'  remarkable  career  of  more 
than  half  a  century,  during  which  time  he  was  to  write  his  name  and  engrave 
his  character  in  imperishable  words  and  deeds  upon  the  archives  of  his 
adopted  city.  He  was  at  this  period  thirty-two  years  of  age,  according  to 
the  calender,  but  his  maturity  of  mind  and  character  rather  befitted  a  man  of 
fifty.  He  was  already  well  known  to  the  medical  profession  throughout 
the  country,  partly  through  his  contributions  to  the  medical  periodicals, 
l3Ut  chiefly  througli  his  efficient  agency  in  the  establishment  of  the  American 
Medical  Association.  He  was  also  well  known  as  the  champion  of  higher 
medical  education,  and  more  exacting  preliminary  training. 

Dr.  Davis  entered  upon  his  duties  as  professor  of  physiology  and  gen- 
eral pathology  in  Rush  Medical  College  with  his  usual  earnestness,  fidelity 
and  ability.  Before  his  lecture  hour  arrived  he  arrived,  and  when  his  bell 
rang,  he  stepped  into  the  lecture  room,  and  the  business  of  the  hour  began, 
without  any  display  of  oratory  or  pyrotechnics,  but  he  had,  and  held,  the 
thoughtful  attention  of  the  entire  class  from  start  to  finish.  He  was  a 
natural  teacher;  a  teacher  who  could  impart  knowledge  so  as  to  interest 
and  instruct  a  class  of  young  men  without  worrying  them  with  tiresome 
platitudes  of  stale  wisdom,  or  disgusting  them  with  explosions  of  windy 
oratory.  I  am  told  that  even  in  these  early  days  of  his  teaching,  his  com- 
mand of  language  was  regarded  as  remarkable.  His  sentences  were  short, 
terse  and  incisive,  and  he  had  the  unusual  gift  of  being  able  to  select  the 
words  which  expressed  his  thoughts  in  the  strongest  manner,  without 
repetition  or  redundancy.  And  such  a  teacher  as  this,  whether  in  a  medical 
•or  any  other  school,  is  always  strong  with  his  classes,  and  it  is  therefore  not 
strange  that  Dr.  Davis  was  a  beloved  as  well  as  a  highly  respected  teacher. 

But  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  a  citizen,  and  a  very  public  spirited  citizen,  as 
well  as  a  doctor  and  a  professor,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  soon  and 
"how  readily  he  entered  into  the  sanitary  and  engineering  problems  of  Chi- 
cago. The  water  supply  of  the  city  was  derived  altogether  from  wells,  with 
the  exception  of  a  single  "pump  log"  line,  which  supplied  a  manufactur- 
ing establishment  with  water  pumped  from  the  lake.  The  surplus  was  dis- 
tributed through  pump  logs  to  a  few  citizens ;  there  was  no  system  of 
-sewerage,  and  so  the  water  from  the  wells  was  contaminated  by  the  villainous 


REMOVAL   TO    CHICAGO  2/ 

surface  drainage.  Meantime,  the  water  of  Lake  Michig^an,  pure  and  inex- 
haustible, lay  Avithin  a  stone's  throw,  and  Dr.  Davis,  with  his  characteristic 
energ}'',  urged  the  establishment  of  an  adequate  system  of  water  supply,  and 
a  corresponding  scheme  of  drainage.  At  that  time  there  was  no  public 
hospital  in  Chicago,  and  so  in  1850  he  delivered  a  course  of  public  lectures, 
enforcing  the  urgent  need  of  water  supply  and  sewerage.  A  small  admission 
fee  was  charged  for  these  lectures,  and  with  the  proceeds  a  small  hospital 
■of  twelve  beds  was  established,  and  such  was  the  beginning  of  the  present 
Mercy  Hospital,  with  its  350  beds,  and  its  admirable  equipment  for  clinical 
teaching.  For  nearly  forty  years,  or  until  his  death,  Dr.  Davis  was  senior 
physician  to  this  noble  institution,  and  during  the  whole  of  this  long  period, 
he  was  absolutely  faithful  in  his  attendance,  and  his  clinics  attracted  medical 
men  from  far  and  near. 

But  Dr.  Davis'  connection  with  Rush  Medical  College  was  destined  to 
be  brief.  He  was  still  firmly  convinced  that  the  lecture  terms  ought  to  be 
lengthened  to  at  least  six  months ;  that  a  standard  of  preliminary  education 
■ought  to  be  required ;  that  a  graded  curriculum  of  medical  study  should 
be  adopted  and  enforced ;  and  that  regular  attendance  upon  hospital  and 
college  clinics  ought  to  be  recjuired  of  all  students  as  a  pre-requisite  to 
receiving  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine.  But  his  ideas  were  quite  too 
radical  to  harmonize  with  those  of  the  majority  of  his  colleagues,  and  par- 
ticularly with  the  autocratic  head  of  the  faculty,  and  practical  founder  of 
the  college.  Prof.  Daniel  Brainard.  It  is  quite  probable,  also,  that  there  may 
have  been  other  sources  of  friction  between  Drs.  Brainard  and  Davis,  as  they 
were  not  well  calculated  to  work  together  in  harmony.  Both  were  men  of 
iron  will ;  both  were  born  to  command,  neither  one  was  fitted  to  obey.  The 
;g'entle  arts  of  conciliation  and  persuasion  were  alike  unknown  to  both,  and 
it  Avas  only  a  question  of  time  when  these  two  colossal  wills  would  collide, 
with  unpleasant  consequences  to  both. 

Rush  Medical  College  was  "joined  to  its  idols,"  and  Dr.  Davis  was 
unyielding  in  his  educational  views.  The  story  goes  that  soon  after  Dr. 
Davis'  connection  with  the  college,  and  during  Dr.  Brainard's  absence 
in  Europe,  the  annual  announcement  was  prepared  for  the  printer,  in  which 
a  graded  course,  a  lengthened  term  and  other  radical  advances  were  an- 
nounced; but  just  before  the  fated  document  reached  the  printer.  Dr. 
Brainard  returned,  and  summarily  vetoed  the  whole  plan  in  his  characteristic 
autocratic  manner. 

Of  course  Dr.  Davis  would  not  peacefully  submit  to  that,  and  his  course 
was  soon  decided  upon.  In  the  year  1859  the  trustees  of  Lind  University, 
of  Chicago,  organized  a  medical  school  as  a  department  of  that  university. 
The  trustees  invited  Drs.  Hosmer  A.  Johnson,  Edmund  Andrews  and 
Ralph  N.  Isham  to  meet  them  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  matter. 


28  REMOVAL  TO    CHICAGO 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  these  gentlemen  again  met  the  university  trustees^ 
together  with  Drs.  N.  S.  Davis,  W.  H.  Byford  and  David  Rutter,  and  out 
of  this  meeting  grew  the  Medical  Department  of  Lind  University.  The 
introductory  lecture  of  the  first  term  of  instruction  was  given  by  Dr.  Davis, 
October  9th,  1859.  Of  course  he  had  previously  severed  his  connection 
with  Rush  Medical  College  by  resignation,  as  he  saw  no  prospect  of  a  "for- 
ward movement"  in  that  institution. 

The  9th  of  October,  1859,  must  always  be  regarded  as  an  important 
epoch  in  the  history  of  American  medicine,  and  in  the  history  of  Chicago. 
On  that  day,  in  a  rather  obscure  city,  in  the  then  remote  and  little  known 
west,  under  the  auspices  of  a  university  destined  to  a  brief  and  otherwise 
uneventful  existence,  and  under  the  patronage  of  a  group  of  medical  men 
who,  with  a  single  exception,  were  not  recognized  as  leaders  in  the  pro- 
fession, there  was  inaugurated  a  movement  that  was  an  acute  and  radical 
departure  from  the  traditional  and  venerable  methods  of  teaching  which 
were  hallowed  by  the  great  names  of  the  numerous  and  powerful  professors 
of  the  schools  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  by  many  of  those  of  Europe.  It 
certainly  looked  like,  and  as  certainly  was  regarded,  as  a  very  impracticable 
and  Utopian  scheme,  and  quite  as  certainly  it  would  not  have  been  inaugu- 
rated then  and  there  but  for  the  powerful  and  persistent  support  of  Dr. 
Davis.  It  is  equally  certain  that  it  would  have  shared  the  untimely  fate 
of  Lind  University  if  Dr.  Davis  had  faltered  or  weakened  in  his  iron  deter- 
mination to  advance  the  standard  of  medical  education  in  the  United  States. 
But  from  this  small  and  apparently  obscure  beginning,  without  financial 
support  or  professional  encouragement  outside  of  his  own  faculty,  has  been 
evolved  the  elaborate  and  comprehensive  curriculum  of  medical  education 
that  is  now  in  force  in  all  the  reputable  medical  schools  of  this  country. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  "reformer"  is  so  fortunate  as  to  live  long  enough 
to  see  his  ideas  accepted,  adopted  and  put  into  practical  use ;  but  such  was 
Dr.  Davis'  felicitous  and  well-deserved  experience,  and  it  was  a  source  of 
great  gratification  to  him  in  his  declining  years. 

Financial  misfortunes  overtook  Lind  University,*  and  as  its  probable 
demise  was  foreseen  by  Dr.  Davis  and  his  colleagues,  it  was  deemed  best 
to  reorganize  the  medical  department  on  an  independent  basis.  Accordingly, 
in  1864,  it  was  organized  anew  under  the  name  of  the  Chicago  IMedicai 
College,  but  without  essential  changes  in  its  faculty  or  plan  of  teaching. 
The  same  strong  and  devoted  men  formed  the  faculty  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  College,  but  they  recognized  Dr.  Davis'  title  to  leadership  by  mak- 
ing him  president  of  the  institution,  and  then  supporting  him  by  their  con- 
stant loyalty. 


*SiHce  the  above  was  written,  I  have  been  informed  that  the  Lake  Forest  I'lii- 
versity,  of  Lake  Forest,  IlHnois,  was  the  "residuary  legatee",  and  successor  of  Lind 
Universitv. — L  N.  D. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Professional  Career  in  Chicago — Chicago  Medical  College — Mercy  Hospital. 

After  the  reorganization  of  the  Medical  Department  of  Lind  University, 
under  the  name  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  the  administrative  work 
fell  largely  upon  Dr.  Davis,  and  he  entered  into  it  con  amove.  It  was  the 
opportunity  of  his  life,  and  he  knew  it.  His  theories  of  medical  education 
were  to  have  a  fair  and  open  trial,  under  his  own  eye  and  largely  subject 
to  his  personal  supervision,  and  a  failure  would  be  a  calamity  both  to  him 
personally,  and  to  the  ideas  for  which  he  had  contended  so  long  and  so 
earnestly.  Fortunately  he  had  a  power  of  will  which  nothing  could  daunt, 
and  fortunately  again,  he  had  the  constant  support  of  an  able  and  loyal 
body  of  colleagues.  Yet  the  early  years  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College 
were  years  of  hard  work  and  discouragement  on  the  part  of  the  faculty 
and  friends  of  the  college.  It  was  the  first  college  to  install  the  graded 
system  of  instruction;  to  require  an  entrance  examination  and  stated  ex- 
aminations before  students  were  allowed  to  pass  from  the  lower  to  the 
higher  classes.  Of  course  it  was  a  radical  departure  from  the  venerable, 
antiquated  and  inefficient  methods  of  the  past;  it  required  no  small  degree 
of  self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  both  students  and  faculty,  and  it  was  sure 
to  meet  with  opprobrium  and  ridicule  on  the  part  of  the  older  and  better 
known  schools.  But  Dr.  Davis  and  his  loyal  colleagues  held  firmly  to 
the  plan  they  had  marked  out,  and  the  ultimate  result  was  as  gratifying 
as  it  was  remarkable.  At  this  period  Dr.  Davis  was  forty-seven  years 
old;  he  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  intellectual  strength;  his  capacity  for  work 
seemed  to  be  without  limit,  and  his  industry  was  only  limited  by  his  powers 
of  endurance.  With  a  less  resolute  and  less  capable  man  at  the  head,  the 
experiment  of  graded  instruction  and  periodic  examinations,  upon  which 
basis  the  Chicago  Medical  College  was  founded,  would  have  proven  a 
failure,  and  the  "forward  movement,"  as  regards  medical  education, 
would  have  received  a  back-set  until  some  more  fortunate  pioneer -^should 
arise.  But  with  Dr.  Davis  it  was  a  case  of  "this  one  thing  I  do,"  and  St. 
Paul  himself  could  not  have  shown  a  more  persistent  purpose,  or  a  more 
indomitable  will  in  carrying  out  his  purpose. 

In  the  year  1869,  the  Chicago  Medical  College  became  "affiliated" 
with  the  Northwestern  University,  still,  however,  retaining  its  old  name. 
Its  government  and  management  remained  practically   in   its   faculty,   and 


30  PROFESSIONAL    CAREER    IN    CHICAGO 

of  course  Dr.  Davis  still  remained  its  executive  head,  under  the  title  of 
Dean.  As  one  happy  result  of  this  "affiliation."  the  Chicago  ^Medical 
College  received  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars  from  the  University,  which 
enabled  the  former  to  leave  the  cramped  and  incommodious  quarters  on 
State  street  and  build  a  more  roomy  and  comfortable  edifice  at  the  corner 
of  Twenty-sixth  street  and  Prairie  avenu.e.  In  1891  the  name  was  changed 
to  Xorthwestern  Universit}'  ^Medical  School,  and  the  University  acquired 
a  more  commanding  influence  in  its  management. 

In  1892,  aided  by  the  gifts  of  William  Deering  and  Dr.  Ephraim  Ingals, 
the  faculty  were  enabled  to  erect  and  adequately  equip  the  noble  buildings 
known  as  the  "Laboratory  Building"  and  "Davis  Hall"  on  Dearborn  street, 
between  Twenty- fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  streets,  immediately  adjacent  to 
Wesley  Hospital;  and  Nathan  Smith  Davis  had  the  happiness  to  see  the 
medical  school  which  was  so  largely  due  to  his  unwearied  efforts,  move 
into  a  permanent  home,  suited  to  its  wants,  and  sufficiently  commodious 
to  accommodate  it  for  many  }ears  to  come.  The  buildings  were  first 
occupied  in  1893-4. 

But  while  the  ^ledical  Department  of  Lind  University  of  1859,  had 
heen  changing  its  name  and  moving  its  domicile  so  many  times,  it  had 
iilso  undergone  other  changes  of  far  greater  in.iportance.  It  had  become 
known  as  the  most  advanced  school  in  its  plan  of  instruction;  it  had  passed 
the  experimental  stage,  and  had  reached  a  solid  foundation,  financially  and 
otherwise ;  its  classes  had  grown  in  numbers  quite  as  rapid!}'  as  its  faculty 
desired,  and  the  personnel  of  the  matriculants  had  improved  in  every  par- 
ticular. In  fact,  when  the  ]\Iedical  Department  of  Xorthwestern  University 
moved  into  its  stately  home  on  Dearborn  street  in  1893-4,  it  had  become 
one  of  the  best  known  and  most  highly  esteemed  medical  schools  in  the 
country. 

]\Ieantime  the  ideas  of  Dr.  Davis  had  demonstrated  their  vitality  by 
proving  that  they  were  self-propagating.  Starting  in  obscurity  and  with 
A-ery  slight  financial  backing,  they  had  become  the  corner  stone  of  medical 
education  throughout  the  United  States.  One  by  one,  slowly,  many  times 
doubtfully,  many  more  times  unwillingly,  the  medical  schools  of  our  coun- 
try came  to  adopt  the  tripod  which  was  the  foundation  of  Dr.  Davis'  scheme, 
and  of  w'hich  he  was  the  pioneer,  namely,  the  enforcement  of  a  standard 
of  preliminary  education;  the  adoption  of  longer  annual  courses  of  college 
and  clinical  instruction,  and  the  graded  curriculum  by  which  a  definite  num- 
ber of  branches  are  assigned  to  each  year.  It  is  not  too  much,  therefore, 
to  say  that  to  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  chiefly,  and  his  loyal  colleagues  in  a  scarcely 
less  degree,  must  be  traced  the  educational  "leaven"  that  has  slowly,  pro- 
gressively, but  surely  and  effectually,  "leavened  the  whole  lump." 


PROFESSIONAL    CAREER   IN    CHICAGO  3 1 

For  more  than  fort_y  years — from  1859  ^  1904 — Dr.  Davis  occupied 
the  Professorship  of  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  Lind  University  and  its  successors.  His  faithful, 
prompt  and  unwearied  response  to  the  call  of  the  lecture  bell  was  a  marvel 
to  all  who  knew  him,  and  if  he  missed  a  lecture,  it  was  simply  because  some 
obstacle  beyond  his  control  had  arisen. 

Mercy  Hospital,  of  Chicago,  Avas  founded  June  21st,  1851.  It  was 
the  "residuary  legatee"  of  an  older  institution  which  was  started  in  October, 
1850,  under  the  bombastic  name  of  "The  Illinois  General  Hospital  of  the 
Lakes."  It  was  first  located  in  a  few  rooms  in  an  old  hotel  building  known 
.as  the  "Lake  House,"  standing  at  the  corner  of  ^Michigan  and  Rush  streets, 
and  the  necessary  money  (one  hundred  dollars),  was  raised  by  Dr.  Davis, 
as  the  proceeds  of  a  course  of  lectures  given  by  him,  in  "South  Market 
Hall,"  then  the  largest  hall  in  the  city.  The  subject  of  Dr.  Davis'  lectures 
was  "The  Sanitary  Condition  of  the  City."  After  various  vicissitudes,  the 
"Illinois  General  Hospital  of  the  Lakes"  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholic 
.Sisters  of  Mercy,  whereupon  it  was  immediately  reorganized  and  chartered 
under  the  name  of  ]\Iercy  Hospital,  which  name  it  still  bears.  It  has  now 
(1907)  become  one  of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  hospitals  in  Chicago. 
It  is  still  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Merc}^,  and  it  is  a  splendid  monu- 
ment to  their  single-minded  devotion  to  their  holy  calling,  and  of  their 
^reat  ability  as  organizers. 

Dr.  Davis  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  medical  staff  of  the  original 
"Hospital  of  the  Lakes,"  was  transferred  to  Mercy  Hospital  as  Senior 
Ph3'sician,  and  held  this  position  from  1851  until  his  death  in  1904,  a  period 
of  more  than  fifty  years.  On  several  occasions,  shortly  prior  to  his  death, 
Le  tried  to  resign,  but  as  Sister  Raphael  (the  Sister  Superior)  says,  "I 
would  not  let  him."  Dr.  Davis  was  probably  somewhat  infl-uenced  in  his 
lavish  support  of  J\Iercy  Hospital  bv  his  desire  to  utilize  the  ward  patients 
for  clinical  teaching,  but  that  does  not  lessen  the  beneficial  results  of  his 
support  so  far  as  it  concerned  the  sick  poor,  while  it  did  increase,  by  many 
times,  its  usefulness  to  the  community,  in  that  it  supplied  them  with  a 
corps  of  clinically  trained  and  competent  physicians  and  surgeons,  some- 
thing they  had  never  known  before.  Dr.  Davis'  clinical  lectures  in  the 
wards  and  amphitheatre  of  A/fercy  Hospital  gave  him  a  wide  and  enviable 
reputation  as  a  teacher  of  practical  medicine ;  in  fact  it  is  not  too  much  to 
-say  he  had  no  superior  as  a  clinical  instructor  in  this  country. 

In  addition  to  his  colleg'e  and  hospital  work.  Dr.  Davis  /had  a 
large  and  varied  family  and  office  practice.  He  Vvas  never  a  "specialist," 
and  he  had  no  patience  with  specialism.  He  placed  peculiar  emphasis  on 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  "ohvsician,"  and  that  his  vocation  was  not  narrowed 


32  PROFESSIONAL    CAREER   IN    CHICAGO 

or  handicapped  by  specialism.  He  regarded  the  family  physician  of  his 
early  and  middle  life,  as  the  highest  type  of  medical  practitioner,  and  he 
believed  that  specialties  in  medicine  were  harmful  alike  to  physician  and 
patient.  Hence  he  never  limited  his  own  practice  to  any  particular  region 
of  the  body  or  system  of  organs,  save  that  he  abandoned  surgical  prac- 
tice, perhaps  from  a  natural  dislike  for  it,  but  more  probably  because  his 
extensive  and  ever-widening  family  practice  left  no  time  for  the  exacting 
demands  of  surgery.  His  office  practice  was  phenomenal,  on  account  of 
the  great  number  of  patients,  and  their  great  variety  as  to  nationality  and 
social  status.  The  poor  came  to  him ;  the  rich  came  to  him ;  the  black 
man  and  the.  white  man,  the  Irishman,  the  Scandinavian,  the  Teuton  and 
the  dark-skinned  Italian,  without  regard  to  age,  sex,  color,  or  elegance  or 
shabbiness  of  apparel,  and  they  w^ere  all  treated  alike,  except  that  when 
a  poor  and  ill-clad  woman,  especially  if  she  happened  to  have  a  limp  and 
fretful  baby  in  her  arms,  came  among  the  crowd,  that  woman  and  baby 
were  pretty  sure  to  get  prompt  attention.  He  disposed  of  his  cases  very 
rapidly;  a  few  questions,  and  those  straight  to  the  point;  he  wanted  no 
long-winded  descriptions  or  opinions  from  his  patients,  but  he  did  want 
and  would  have  a  direct  answer  to  his  questions,  without  circumlocution 
or  delay.  And  then  a  diagnosis,  almost  by  intuition,  and  a  prescription, 
followed  by  the  invariable  fee  of  one  dollar,  and  the  consultation,  lasting 
from  three  to  five  minutes,  in  ordinary  cases,  was  over,  the  patient  was 
dismissed  with  scant  ceremony,  the  next  number  was  called,  and  so  it 
went  on  hour  after  hour  for  six  days  in  the  week,  for  a  full  half  century. 
But  in  the  investigation  of  obscure  or  complicated  cases.  Dr.  Davis 
showed  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  In  a  calm,  judicial  and  perfectly 
systematic  manner,  equally  without  haste  and  without  hesitancy,  but  with 
a  deliberate  and  incisive  analysis  of  signs  and  symptoms  that  left  no 
stone  unturned,  no  function  unquestioned  and  no  organ  with  secrets  un- 
revealed,  he  turned  the  merciless  logic  of  his  master  mind  upon  the  case, 
and  when  his  examination  was  finished,  he  knew,  or  he  knew  that  he  did 
not  know,  what  was  the  nature  and  pathology  of  the  case  under  investi- 
gation. And  with  a  frankness  and  directness  that  was  delightful,  he 
always  told  what  he  knew,  and  what  he  did  not  know.  When  Dr.  Davis 
was  really  "on  his  m.ettle,"  as  I  have  seen  him  when  I  have  sought  his 
aid  in  consultation,  his  analytic  and  diagnostic  powers  were  almost  phenom- 
enal. His  accuracy  of  sight  and  touch  and  hearing;  his  skill  in  percussion 
and  auscultation ;  his  art  of  eliciting  information  and  detecting  deception 
by  means  of  searching  interrogatories ;  but  above  all,  his  Baconian  method 
of  winnowing  the  grain  from  the  chaff,  and  getting  at  the  solid  facts  in 
the  case,  were  a  lesson  once  seen  never  to  be  forgotten. 


PROFESSIONAL    CAREER    IN    CHICAGO  33 

His  consultation  practice  for  many  years  was  probably  the  largest 
of  any  physician  in  Chicago,  a  fact  which  should  not  excite  surprise,  when 
we  remember  that  added  to  his  great  ability  was  a  lofty  and  high-toned 
sense  of  honor,  which  made  the  youngest  and  most  timid  practitioner  feel 
perfectly  at  ease  when  Dr.  Davis  was  his  adviser. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  Dr.  Davis'  considerate  kindness  for  the 
poor,  in  his  office  practice.  He  was  also  always  ready  and  willing  to  visit 
the  poor  in  their  homes  by  day  or  night,  storm  or  shine,  cold  or  hot,  and 
only  the  Recording  Angel  will  ever  know  how  many  times  he  added  to  his 
gratuitous  visit  equally  gratuitous  gifts  of  money  or  suppHes  for  the  house- 
hold, for  under  his  somewhat  austere  and  forbidding  personality  was  hid- 
den a  great  tender  heart,  which  was  not  only  altruistic  but  was  altruism 
itself. 

For  a  full  half  century  Dr.  Davis  pursued  his  daily  routine  of  making 
|)rofessional  calls,  attending  to  his  enormous  office  practice,  attending  to 
his  executive  duties  and  delivering  his  lectures  at  the  medical  college 
which  was  so  near  to  his  heart  and  head,  and  in  fact  his  pocket,  visiting 
the  wards  of  Mercy  Hospital  and  delivering  clinical  lectures  at  the  bed- 
side and  in  the  amphitheatre,  besides  attending  to  various  other  duties 
which,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  devolved  upon  him  as  a  loyal  and  public- 
spirited  citizen  and  "all  around"  man  of  affairs.  It  would  be  a  difficult 
task  to  find  another  man,  in  all  the  annals  of  medicine,  who  has  lived  a 
life  so  busy ;  who  did  so  many  things,  and  did  them  all  so  well. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Connection  with   Educational   and    Charitable   Organizations. 

Dr.  X.  S.  Davis  was  a  man  of  many  gifts,  and  lie  had  many  calls  tO' 
exercise  them.  If  he  ever  refused  to  engage  in  the  promotion  of  any  enter- 
prise that  promised  good  to  his  fellow  men  such  refusal  has  certainly  not 
been  made  a  matter  of  record.  We  have  seen  how  ardently  and  ably  he 
engaged  in  founding  the  Chicago  Medical  College  (now  the  Xorthwestern 
University  ]\Iedical  SchoolJ,  and  in  the  upbuilding  of  Z\Iercy  Hospital,  and. 
v\"e  shall  presently  see  with,  what  energy  he  entered  upon  the  work  of 
fovmding  the  American   Medical  Association. 

But  these  were  only  drops  in  the  bucket,  compared  with  the  long  list 
of  societies,  organizations  or  institutions  of  which  he  was  founder,  charter 
riiember,  or  promoter,  in  some  important  and  commanding  capacity. 

The  X'orthwestern  University,  located  at  Evanston.  Illinois,  was  in- 
corporated in  January,  185 1.  On  of  the  14th  of  June  following.  Dr.  Davis- 
Vvas  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  Trustees ;  he  continued  a 
member  for  about  ten  consecutive  years,  after  vrhich  he  retired  for  a  few 
years,  but  was  then  re-elected,  and  remained  a  trustee  during  the  remain- 
der of  his  life.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  he  was  no  "figure-head"  trustee; 
he  made  himself  familiar  with  the  financial  and  educational  affairs  of  the 
University,  he  was  invariably  present  at  the  meetings  of  the  Board  unless 
unavoidably  detained ;  he  took  an  active,  intelligent  and  influential  part  irt 
the  discussions  of  the  trustees,  and  he  had  as  much  to  do  with  shaping 
the  policies  and  determining  the  management  of  this  great  institution  as 
any  other  one  man.  His  name  is  }'et  mentioned  with  profound  respect 
b}^  his  surviving  colleagues. 

When  the  negotiations  were  opened  looking  to  the  absorption  of  the 
Chicago  ^Medical  College  Iw  the  X'orthwestern  University,  of  course  he 
was  the  most  prominent  representative  of  both  medical  school  and  university, 
and  it  is  a  splendid  tribute  to  his  just  and  judicial  mind,  that  a  union  of  the 
two  institutions,  so  favorable  and  so  beneficial  to  both,  was  effected  so 
smoothly  and  quietly.  It  needs  no  violent  stretch  of  even  a  dull  imagina- 
tion, to  understand  that  it  must  have  been  exceedingly  gratifying  to  Dr. 
Davis  to  see  the  Chicago  ^Medical  College — the  child  of  his  creative  genius 
— placed  under  the  ample  wing  of  Xorthwestern  University,  thus  insur- 
ing its  perpetuity  and  unvarying  loA'alty  to  scientific  medicine. 


CONNECTION   WITH   EDUCATIONAL  AND  CHAR['1AI!LE  ORGANIZATKJX.S         35 

It  is  perhaps  difficult  to  say  which  has  been  most  benefited  b}'  this 
union,  the  University  or  the  Aledical  SchooL 

A  meeting  of  a  few  or  the  more  prominent  physicians  of  Chicago  was 
cahed  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1850,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps 
toward  forming'  a  medical  organization,  for  mutual  improvement,  and 
among'  them  was  Dr.  Davis.  yVt  this  meeting  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  prepare  a  constitution  and  by-laws  and  report  at  a  subsequent  meetings 
which  was  held  April  5th,  1850,  when  the  report  of  the  committee  was 
ratified  and  the  name  "Chicago  Medical  Society"'^^^  was  adopted.  In  this 
movement  Dr.  Davis  was  active  and  interested,  but  factional  divisions  soon 
interfered  with  the  progress  of  the  society,  and  after  the  second  election 
of  officers,  in  April,  1851,  a  quorum  could  not  be  gotten  together.  Neverthe- 
less Drs.  Davis,  Blaney,  Boone,  Herrick,  Evans  and  a  few  others,  held 
stated  ''meetings"  which  one  writer  called  "pathological  sociables,"'  since 
in  the  absence  of  a  quorum  no  business  could  be  transacted.  But  presently 
the  interest  in  the  societ}'  began  to  increase  and  it  had  reached  a  state 
of  considerable  prosperity  when  the  fire  of  1871  scattered  the  membership 
and  drove  all  thoughts  of  scientific  matters  from  their  minds.  But  Dr. 
Davis  invited  such  of  the  members  as  he  could  reach  to  meet  at  his  house 
on  Wabash  avenue,  which  they  did,  until  the  ruins  of  the  old  court  house 
became  tenable,  when  the  meetings  v/ere  transferred  to  that  gloomy  old 
structure.  The  present  writer  well  remembers  those  meetings,  and  the  mem- 
bers, long  since  gone  to  their  reward,  whatever  it  may  be.  Dr.  Davis  was 
almost  invariabl}^  present,  and,  no  matter  what  the  subject  under  discus- 
sion might  be,  he  was  sure  to  be  an  active  and  ver}-  interesting  participant. 

The  Chicago  Medical  Society  is  now  a  strong  and  influential  organiza- 
tion, and  its  members  remember  with  pride  that  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  one 
of  its  founders.  Of  course  he  filled  all  its  offices,  and  no  member  was  more 
prominent  in  its  councils. 

The  Illinois  State  ]\Iedical  Society  was  organized  June  3,  1851,  at 
Peoria,  being  the  outcome  of  a  convention  held  at  Springfield  June  4th, 
1850,  and  Dr.  Davis  was  one  of  its  charter  members.  He  served  as  Secre- 
tary for  ten  consecutive  years,  and  his  colleagues  would  gladly  have  elected 
him  for  twice  that  length  of  time,  if  he  would  have  consented.  In  1856, 
he  was  elected  President,  and  he  was  for  many  years  connected  with  the 
society,  in  some  official  capacity.  He  was  rarely  absent  from  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  society,  read  several  papers  before  it,  and  was  an  active 
participant  in  its  discussions,  both  ethical  and  scientific.  His  membership 
in   the   societv  onlv   terminated   with   his   life.      It   is   interesting  to   notice 


*Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  found  the  following  memorandum  in  Dr. 
Davis'  handwriting,  on  one  of  his  prescription  iolanks  :  "Ch.  Med.  Society  organized  in 
the  spring  of  1850 — changed  its  name  to  Cook  Co.  Medical  Society  in  1852 — and 
changed  it  back  to  Chicago  Medical  Society  in  1858." — I.  N.  D. 


36        COXXECTIOX   WITH  EDUCATIOXAL  AND  CHARITABLE  ORGANIZATIONS 

that  his  "Presidential  Address''  was  entitled,  "What  Influences  are  Alcoholic 
Liquids  Capable  of  Exerting,  Either  in  Preventing  or  Curing  Tubercular 
Disease  of  the  Lungs?"  It  is  needless  to  add  that  "alcoholic  liquids"'  re- 
ceived scant  courtesy  at  the  hands  of  this  apostle  of  temperance  as  reme- 
dies for  "tubercular  disease  of  the  lungs''  or  anything  else. 

In  the  year  1854,  Dr.  Davis  was  Treasurer  of  the  society. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1869,  the  "State  ]\Iicroscopical  Society  of  Illi- 
nois" was  organized  under  a  charter  from  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  and  we  find  the  name  of  "Xathan  S.  Davis,  ]\I.  D.,*'  among  the 
charter  members.  (Dn  the  7th  of  !May  following,  the  "Council"  was  chosen, 
and  Dr.  Davis'  name  appears  as  a  member  of  this  body.  On  the  14th  of 
the  following  January  he  presented  a  paper  to  the  society  on  the  "Trichina 
Spiralis,"  a  subject  of  considerable  rarity  at  that  time,  and  one  that  was 
often  confounding  the  diagnoses  of  practitioners,  particularly  of  the  western 
cities.  It  is  interesting  to  find  that  Dr.  Davis,  although  not  a  practical 
raicroscopist.  was  a  charter  member  of  the  State  ]\Iicroscopical  Society, 
anl  that  among  the  first  papers  presented  was  one  by  himself  on  a  then 
mysterious  and  much  dreaded  disease. 

The  State  ^Microscopical  Society  of  Illinois  had  a  brief  but  very 
brilliant  career.  The  societv's  annual  "Conversazione"  was  one  of  the 
events  of  the  season,  and  the  display  of  microscopes  and  microscopic  ob- 
jects was  more  gorgeous  than  scientific.  But  it  had  its  day,  and  Dr.  Davis 
was  one  of  its  patrons. 

The  Chicago  Historical  Society  was  organized  April  24th,  1856.  We 
find  Dr.  Davis  catalogued  as  one  of  the  original  promoters  and  one  of  its 
first,  as  well  as  one  of  its  most  active,  members.  On  the  7th  of  February, 
1857,  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  assumed  a  legal  existence  under  an 
act  of  incorporation,  and  Dr.  Davis  was  one  of  the  incorporators.  The 
society  had  its  infantile  troubles,  but  it  also  had  its  heroes.  "The  devoted 
services  of  its  friends  managed,  in  the  first  fifteen  years  of  its  life,  to  accu- 
mulate a  mass  of  historical  treasure.  There  were  some  20,000  volumes. 
1,738  files  of  early  newspapers,  4,689  manuscripts  (including  the  entire 
Kinzie  collection)  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  original  draft  of  Lincoln's 
Emancipation  Proclamation !  These  call  a  glov.-  to  the  heart,  only  to  be 
followed  bv  a  spasm  of  pain,  for  every  vestige  of  them  all,  was  destroyed 
in  the  great  fire  of  1871.  After  this  disaster  many  friends  sent  boxes 
of  books  addressed  to  the  society,  which  were  stored,  awaiting  some  move- 
ment for  rehabilitation;  and  again  in  the  fire  of  July,  1874,  these,  too,  were 
burned."''-'  Yet  in  spite  of  these  disasters  the  Chicago  Historical  Society 
now  occupies  its.  own  spacious  and  beautiful  granite  edifice,  at  the  corner 
of  Dearborn  avenue  and  Ontario  street,  and  on  its  wall  hangs  the  picture 
of  N.  S.  Davis,  one  of  its  founders  and  most  unfaltering  supporters. 


'The  Story  of  Chicago,"  ].  Kirkland,  p.  343. 


CONNECTION  WITH  EDUCATIONAL  AND  CHARITABLE  ORGANIZATIONS         2)7 

It  is  pleasant  to  notice  among  Dr.  Davis'  colleagues  in  the  Historical 
Society  the  name  of  that  genial  gentleman,  accomplished  scholar,  and  de- 
voted patriot.  Dr.  Jaiiies  Van  Zandt  Blaney,  a  much  respected  practitioner 
of  those  days. 

In  1857,  the  "Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society"  was  organized,  and  of 
course  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  among  its  charter  members,  for  it  was  an  in- 
stitution whose  function  it  was  to  dispense  relief  and  aid  to  the  worthy 
sick  and  poor.  The  good  this  society  has  done  during  the  half  century 
of  its  existence  cannot  be  computed  in  cold  figures,  or  stated  in  human 
language.  During  the  year  and  a  half  following  the  great  fire  (1871),  it 
dispensed  in  pure  charity  and  relief  work,  the  enormous  sum  of  $8,923,400, 
and  no  whisper  of  "graft"  was  ever  heard.  Dr.  Davis  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  this  beneficent  work,  as  was  also  his  close  friend  and  colleague, 
the  late  Dr.  Hosmer  A.  Johnson,  for  many  years  one  of  the  most  eminent 
and  most  beloved  physicians  of  Chicago. 

The  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences  was  founded  in  1859,  with  Dr. 
Davis  as  one  of  its  charter  members.  This  institution  suffered  a  total  loss 
of  its  library  and  collection  of  specimens  in  the  conflagration  of  1871.  It 
now  possesses  a  noble  building,  the  -"Matthew  Laflin  Memorial,"  in  Lincoln 
Park,  and  a  fine  collection  of  objects  of  scientific  interest  as  well  as  an  ex- 
tensive and  valuable  library.  For  many  years  Dr.  Davis  gave  the 
Academy  his  active  support,  and  his  name  holds  an  honorable  place  among 
its  founders  and  early  patrons. 

Among  the  professors  in  the  "College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
Western  New  York,"  where  Dr.  Davis  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine, was  the  late  Theodore  Romeyn  Beck,  "Professor  of  M^edical  Juris- 
prudence," a  man  who  was  justly  eminent  by  reason  of  his  knowledge  of 
Forensic  Medicine,  and  who  was  also  a  highly  gifted  lecturer  and  teacher. 
His  lectures  had  a  peculiar  charm  for  young  Davis,  and  aroused  in  him  a 
love  for  the  study  of  the  relations  of  law  and  medicine  which  lasted  through 
his  entire  life.  Hence  it  is  with  no  surprise  that  we  find  him  an  active 
participant  in  the  organization  of  the  Union  College  of  Law,  which  began 
its  career  in  1859,  as  the  law  department  of  the  (then)  University  of 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  University ;  hence  the  name,  "Union  Col- 
lege of  Law."  After  the  unfortunate  demise  of  the  original  University 
of  Chicago  the  law  school  became  the  law  department  of  Northwestern 
University,  and  such  it  still  remains.  Dr.  Davis  was  "Professor  of  Medi- 
cal Jurisprudence"  for  many  years,  and  his  lectures  were  highly  commended 
by  the  students  and  they  are  still  gratefully  remembered  by  the  same 
students,  in  their  more  mature  years.*     His  lectures  in  the  law  school  were 

*Vide  Chapter  XVII. 


38        CONXECTIOX  WITH  EDUCATIOXAL  AND  CHARITADLE  ORGAXIZATIOXS 

generally  given  in  the  evening,  after  an  arduous  day,  prescribing  for  pa- 
tients in  his  office,  visiting  patients  at  their  homes,  making  rounds  at  the 
hospital,  and.  many  times,  after  lecturing  at  the  medical  school ;  and  it 
was  a  constant  wonder  to  the  law  students,  how  this  hard-working,  strenu- 
ous man,  could  come,  fresh  and  virile,  aften  ten  or  twelve  hours'  continuous 
work,  and  deliver  lectures  hardly  germane  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  so 
learned  and  interesting. 

The  Davis  Free  Dispensary  was  incorporated  May  15,  1873,  by  Drs. 
Davis,  Johnson,  Hollister,  Nelson  and  Andrew^s,  all  of  whom  were  profes- 
sors in  the  Chicago  ^Medical  College. 

Its  purpose  was  twofold :  First,  to  supply  skilled  medical  and  sur- 
gical services  to  the  worthy  poor,  and  secondly,  to  act  as  a  "feeder"  to 
the  clinics  of  the  college.  It  was  most  appropriately  named  after  Dr.  X. 
S.  Davis,  and  was  largely  another  offshoot  of  his  creative  genius,  but  after 
a  couple  of  years  i^:s  name  was  changed  to  the  South  Side  Dispensary, 
under  which  name  it  still  exists,  and  carries  on  an  extensive  and  varied 
clinical  work.* 

In  addition  to  the  enterprises  and  organizations  already  mentioned. 
Dr.  Da^^s  was  so  active  and  influential  in  the  founding  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  that  he  has  been  called  its  "Father."  and  the  honor 
is  by  no  means  undeserved ;  and  his  agency  in  upbuilding  and  maintaining 
the  Washingtonian  Hoyie,  in  Chicago,  was  no  less  important  and  fruitful, 
but  these  are  matters  of  such  moment  that  each  will  demand  a  more  ex- 
tended notice  than  can  be  given  in  the  present  chapter.  It  must  be  apparent 
to  every  one  who  is  conversant  with  the  facts,  that  Dr.  Davis'  genius  for 
creating  and  organizing  new  enterprises  was  something  akin  to  the  mar- 
vellous, especially  when  we  consider  the  variety  of  the  organizations,  and 
their  utter  want  of  a  common  bond  of  union.  In  his  medical  and  hospital 
work  he  was  most  ably  assisted  and  supported  by  Drs.  Hosmer  A.  John- 
son, AMlliam  H.  Byford,  Ednumd  Andrews.  Ralph  X.  Isham,  and  especially 
by  his  honored  and  well-beloved  colleague.  Dr.  John  Hamilcar  Hollister, 
the  last  survivor  of  that  noble  and  eminent  galaxy  of  men,  to  whom  the 
cause  of  higher  medical  education  owes  so  much. 


*For  much  of  the  information  contained  in  Chap.  V,  the  author  is  indebted  to 
Andrea's  History  of  Chicago,  A'"©!.  II. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Relations  to  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  has,  with  great  justice  and  propriety,  been  called  the 
"Father  of  the  Ainerican  Medical  Association.''  This  association,  now  so 
powerful  and  effective  for  good,  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  concerted  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  various  medical  colleges  and  the  various  medical  societies 
of  the  United  States,  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  elevating  the  standard  of 
medical  education,  which  had  fallen  so  low  that  the  high-minded  men  of 
the  profession  looked  upon  the  situation  with  grave  alarm.  But  Dr.  Davis 
did  not  originate  the  first  movement  in  this  direction,  although  he  did  or- 
iginate the  first  movement  that  bore  fruit.  It  should  be  said  at  the  outstart 
that  the  medical  schools,  with  perhaps  a  single  authenticated  exception, 
either  opposed  the  proposal  to  form  a  national  organization,  or  "damned  it 
with  the  faint  praise"  of  indifference  and  apathy.  The  ''single  exception" 
seems  to  have  been  the  faculty  of  the  Medical  College  of  Georgia,  which  in 
1835,  "formally  proposed  the  holding  of  a  convention  of  delegates  from  all 
the  medical  colleges  of  the  Union,  and  advocated  the  same  through  the 
columns  of  the  Southern  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal."-''  Accord- 
ing to  the  Nezv  York  State  Journal  of  Medicine  for  ]\iay,  1907, 
which  journal  quotes  from  the  "A'^zc  Jersey  Medical  Reporter, 
Vol.  vii  (date  and  page  not  given),  "the  first  movement  of  which 
we  have  any  record,  which  contemplated  a  convention  of  delegates, 
not  only  from  all  the  medical  colleges,  but  a'so  from  the  regularly  organized 
medical  societies  throughout  the  whole  country,  was  made  in  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York  at  its  annual  session  in  February,  1839. 
During  the  same  session  the  subject  of  medical  education  had  been  a  promi- 
nent topic  of  discussion ;  and  a  resolution,  declaring  that  the  business  of 
teaching  should  be  separated  as  far  as  possible  from  the  privilege  of  grant- 
ing diplomas,  had  been  adopted  by  a  large  majority.  It  was  in  view^  of 
this  discussion  that  Dr.  John  McCall,  of  Utica,  offered  the  following- 
preamble  and  resolution,  viz :  'Whereas,  A  National  Medical  Conven- 
tion would  advance,  in  the  apprehension  of  this  Society,  the  cause  of  the 
medical  profession  throughout  our  land,  in  thus  affording  an  interchange 
of  views  and  sentiments  on  the  most  interesting  of  all  subjects — that  involv- 


*iV.  Y.  State  Jour.  Med.,  May,  1907,  p.  199. 


40  RELATIOXS    TO    THE    AMERICAN    MEDICAL    ASSOCIATION 

ing  men's  health,  and  the  means  of  securing  or  recovering  the  same ;  there- 
fore : 

"  'Resolved,  That  in  our  opinion  such  convention  is  deemed  advisable 
and  important:  and  we  would  hence  recommend  that  it  be  held  in  the  year 
1840,  on  the  first  Tuesda)^  in  May. of  that  year,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia; 
and  that  it  consist  of  three  delegates  from  each  State  Medical  Society,  and 
one  from  each  regularly  constituted  medical  school  in  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  president  and  secretary  of  this  Society  be  and  they  are  hereby 
instructed  and  required  to  transmit,  as  soon  as  may  be,  a  circular  to 
that  effect  to  each  State  ^ledical  Society  and  medical  school  in  said  United 
States.' 

"This  proposition  was  adopted,  and  all  the  necessary  steps  taken  by 
the  Society  of  the  State  of  Xew  York  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  But  neither 
the  societies  nor  the  schools  of  other  states,  not  even  those  of  Philadelphia, 
w^here  the  proposed  convention  was  to  be  held,  responded  to  the  invitation, 
and  consequently  no  meeting  took  place."* 

Thus  the  first  attempt  to  call  a  National  Convention  of  delegates  from 
the  various  state  societies  and  medical  schools  of  the  country  was  a  dismal 
failure,  because  the  spirit  of  commercialism  was  the  dominant  spirit  in  the 
medical  schools,  and  because  the  man  of  iron  who  was  destined  to  carry 
the  scheme  of  a  convention  to  a  successful  issue  had  not  arrived  upon  the 
scene.  But  by  this  time  the  subject  of  medical  education  had  aroused  an 
active  interest  in  many  of  the  medical  societies  throughout  the  country,  and 
the  faculties  of  the  medical  colleges  generally  had  come  to  realize  that  the 
demand  for  higher  medical  education  could  not  be  postponed  or  ignored 
much  longer.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  So- 
ciety in  1844  attention  was  strongly  directed  to  the  subject  of  medical  edu- 
cation, and  the  necessity  of  a  higher  standard  of  qualification,  both  prelimin- 
ary and  medical,  by  two  series  of  resolutions ;  one  by  Dr.  Alexander  Thomp- 
son of  Cayuga  County,  and  the  other  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  "then  a  new  dele- 
gate from  Broome  County,  N.  Y."  These  resolutions  declared  a  four- 
months'  college  term  too  short  for  an  adequate  course  of  lectures  on  all 
branches  of  medical  science,,  and  that  the  preliminary  requirements  in  the 
way  of  general  education  were  altogether  too  low.  After  considerable  dis- 
cussion the  whole  matter  was  referred  to  the  standing  "Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence"" with  instructions  to  report  at  the  next  annual  meeting,  and  in 
the  meantime  to  address  circulars  to  the  several  county  societies,  asking 
their  views  on  the  same  subject.  At  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  State 
Society  (in  1845),  two  reports  were  made;  one  by  Dr.  Davis,  as  chairman 
of  the  "Committee  of  Correspondence,"  zealously  advocating  reform ;  the 

*  Jhid,  p.  200. 


DR.   N.   S.   DAVIS  AT  THE  AGE  OF  38. 

This  likeness  is   a  reproduction  of  the  Frontispiece  to  his  History  of  the 
Amei'ican  Med'cal  Association,  published  m  1855. 


RELATIONS    TO    THE    AMERICAN    MEDICAL    ASSOCIATION  43 

other  a  minority  report  by  Dr.  M.  H.  Cash,  of  Orange  County,  taking  a 
radicahy  opposite  view  of  the  subject.  These  reports  led  to  a  lengthy  and 
vigorous  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  of  medical  education,  which  de- 
veloped the  fact  that  the  medical  schools  of  New  York  were  very  much 
afraid  of  anv  advance  movement,  because  it  would  drive  students  to  the 
neighboring  schools  of  Philadelphia  and  other  cities  in  other  states.  For  the 
purpose  of  obviating  the  very  natural  objection  and  opposition  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  state  society  who  were  interested  in  the  New  York  medical 
schools.  Prof.  Alden  March,  of  Albany,  suggested  to  Dr.  Davis  that  he 
modify  his  resolutions  so  as  to  embrace  all  the  medical  schools  of  the 
country ;  whereupon  Dr.  Davis  at  once  submitted  the  following-  preamble 
and  resolutions : 

,  "Whereas,  It  is  believed  that  a  National  Convention  would  be  conducive 
to  the  elevation  of  the  standard  of  medical  education  in  the  United  States; 
and  whereas  there  is  no  mode  of  accomplishing  so  desirable  an  object, 
without  concert  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  medical  societies,  colleges  and 
institutions  of  all  the  states ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society  earnestly  rec- 
ommend a  National  Convention  of  deleg-ates  from  medical  societies  and 
colleges  in  the  whole  Union  to  convene  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  first 
Tuesday  in  May,  in  the  year  1846,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting-  some  con- 
certed action  on  the  subject  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  preamble. 

"Resolved :  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  carry  the  fore- 
going resolution  into  efifect."* 

This  scheme  was  very  generally  regarded  by  the  members  of  the  New 
York  State  Medical  Society  as  Utopian,  impracticable  and  undesirable. 
Nevertheless,  after  a  brief  discussion,  the  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  Drs.  N.  S.  Davis,  of  Binghamton ;  John 
McNaughton  and  Peter  Van  Buren,  of  Albany,  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  carry  into  effect  the  plan  contemplated  thereby.  Dr.  Davis,  the  virile 
and  determined  chairman  of  the  committee,  at  once  entered  upon  an  ex- 
tensive and  laborious  correspondence  with  the  various  medical  societies  and 
colleges  of  the  country,  albeit  without  the  aid  of  a  stenographer,  type 
writer,  mimeograph,  or  any  of  our  modern  aids  in  such  emergencies.  The 
responses  were  favorable,  almost  without  exception,  and  on  the  first  Tues- 
day of  May,  1846,  "we  were  gratified,"  says  Dr.  Davis,  "with  the  privilege 
of  meeting  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  least  one  hundred  delegates,  repre- 
senting medical  societies  and  colleges  in  sixteen  states  of  the  union,  viz : 
Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island.  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  A'lrginia,  Georgia, 

""History  of  Medical  Education,  b\-  N.   S.  Davis,  p.   124. 


44  RELATIONS    TO    THE    AMERICAN    MEDICAL    ASSOCIATION 

?ilississippi,,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Tennessee.  The  general  dignity  and  har- 
mony, the  spirit  of  forbearance  and  mutual  concession,  and  the  noble  zeal 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  objects  for  which  it  had  convened,  which 
characterized  the  proceedings  of  this  convention,  was  no  less  a  disappoint- 
ment to  its  enemies  than  an  honor  to  the  profession.  All  the  prominent 
topics  connected  with  medical  education  were  appropriately  discussed,  and 
referred  to  able  committees,  with  instructions  to  consider  and  report  in 
full  at  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  convention  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Wednesday  in  May,  1847,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia."*  On  the  first  day  of 
the  convention,  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  moved  the  following,  which  was  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  nine  be  appointed  to  bring  the  sub- 
ject of  Medical  Education  before  the  convention  in  the  form  of  distinct 
propositions,  suitable  for  discussion  and  action,  and  that  it  report  at  the 
next  meeting." 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed:  Drs.  N.  S.  Davis,  March, 
Hays,  Watson,  Brainerd,  Stearns,  Bush,  Haxall  and  Bell. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Wood,  of  New  York,  the  president.  Dr.  Jonathan 
Knight,  was  added  to  the  committee. 

Dr.  Buell  offered  the  following,  which  was  adopted :  Resolved :  That 
the  committee  be  instructed  to  receive  and  submit  propositions  on  all  sub- 
jects proper  to  be  broug"ht  before  this  convention.*''- 

On  the  following  day  (May  6,  1846,)  Dr.  Davis,  as  chairman  of  the 
foregoing  committee,  made  a  somewhat  lengthy  report,  including  six  resolu- 
tions, whereof  only  the  preamble  and  the  first  two  resolutions  concern  us  in 
this  connection,  and  they  were  as  follows : 

"Whereas,  It  has  been  shown  by  experience  that  the  association  of 
persons  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit,  facilitates  the  attainment  of  their 
common  objects ;  therefore, 

"Resolved:  That  it  is  expedient  for  the  medical  profession  of  the 
United  States  to  institute  a  National  JMedical  Association  for  the  protection 
of  their  interests,  for  the  maintenance  of  their  honor  and  respectability, 
for  the  advancement  of  their  knowledge,  and  the  extension  of  their  useful- 
ness. 

"Resolved:  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  to  report  a  plan  of 
organization  for  such  an  association  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  first  Wednesday  in  May,  1847."*** 

The  committee  of  seven,  authorized  by  the  second  resolution,  consisted 
of  Drs.  John  Watson,  John  Stearns,  T.  Campbell  Stewart,  of  New  York; 

*0/'.  at.,  p.  128. 

'^*Trans.  Am.  Med.  Assji.,  I,  p.  16. 

'^**Trans.  Am.  Med.  Assn.,  Vol.  I,  p.   17. 


RELATIONS    TO    THE    AAIEKICAN    MEDICAL    ASSOCIATION  45 

A.  Stille,  Philadelphia;  N.  S.  Davis,  Binghamton,  N.  Y. :  W.  H.  Cogswell, 
New  London,  Conn. ;  E.  D.  Fenner,  New  Orleans. 

A  committee  was  also  appointed  to  prepare  and  issue  an  address  to  the 
medical  schools  and  societies  which  were  regularly  organized  and  in  good 
standing,  inviting  them  to  send  delegates  to  the  adjourned  convention  at  its 
reassembling  in  Philadelphia,  the  following  May. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  day,  and  after  a  most  profitable  and  har- 
monious session,  the  convention  adjourned,  to  meet  again  on  the  first 
Wednesday  of  May,  1847,  in  Philadelphia. 

This  convention  was  an  epoch-making  event  in  the  medical  history  of 
the  United  States.  As  Dr.  Davis  rode  back  to  his  country  practice  in  Bing- 
hamton did  he  realize  that  his  efl^orts  had  set  in  motion  the  machiner}  that 
would  result  in  the  mighty  American  Medical  Association  of  1907? 

On  the  fifth  of  May,  1847,  at  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  pursuant  to  the  plan 
adopted,  the  delegates  to  the  National  Medical  Convention  assembled  in  the 
hall  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  They 
were  greeted  by  Dr.  Isaac  Hayes,  whose  words  of  welcome  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  scholarly  and  appropriate.  Eminent  men  were  there  ;  men 
whose  earthly  pilgrimage  ceased  long  ago.  but  whose  names  are  held  in  lov- 
ing remembrance.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Alonzo  Clark,  Edward  Elisha 
Phelps,  Amos  Twitchell,  Josiah  Bartlett,  Thomas  M.  Markoe,  Jonathan 
Knight,  Valentine  Mott,  Austin  Flint,  Alden  March,  Nathaniel  Chapman, 
George  B.  Wood;  these  are  a  few  of  the  brilliant  g-alaxy  of  men  who  graced 
that  auspicious  and  epoch-making  occasion.  Of  course  Nathan  Smith  Davis 
was  there,  and  we  can  easily  imagine  with  what  pride  and  pleasure  he  looked 
upon  the  remarkable  gathering  that  his  magic  wand  had  called  together. 
"A  nobler  spectacle  was  never  presented  by  the  medical  profession  of  any 
age  or  country  than  was  witnessed  on  the  assembling  of  the  adjourned  con- 
vention in  1847,"*  says  Dr.  Davis.  About  250  delegates  attended  the  meet- 
ing, representing  medical  societies  and  colleges  in  twenty-three  states. 

A  careful  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  convention  of  1847,  does  not 
show  that  Dr.  Davis  was  particularly  active  or  influential  during  its  pro- 
ceedings or  debates.  We  find  that  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  of  Binghamton,  New 
York,  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was  ordered  to  be  laid  upon, 
the  table : 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  one  from  each  state  represented  m 
this  convention  be  appointed  by  the  President  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  in- 
vestigate the  Indigenous  Medical  Botany  of  our  country ;  paying  particu- 
ular  attention  to  such  plants  as  are  now,  or  may  hereafter  during  their 
term  of  service  be  found  to  possess  valuable  medicinal  properties,  and  are 


*Davis'  History  of  Medical  Education,  p.  129. 


^6  RELATJOXS    TO    THE    AMEKICAX    MEDICAL    ASSOCIATION 

not  already  described  in  the  standard  works  of  our  country;  and  report 
the  same  in  writing,  giving  not  only  the  botanical  and  medical  descrip- 
tion of  each,  but  also  the  localities  where  they  may  be  found,  to  the  next 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  jMedical  Association."* 

This  resolution  was  afterwards  taken  from  the  table,  adopted,  and  a 
committee  appointed,  whereof  Dr.  Davis  was  chairman.  It  is  interesting 
to  find  among  the  members  of  that  committee  the  names  of  Eli  Ives,  of 
Connecticut ;  Jos.  Carson,  of  Pennsylvania  ;  E.  E.  Phelps,  of  Vermont ;  A. 
Twitchell.  of  New  Hampshire;  J.  P.  Porcher,  of  South  Carolina,  and  G. 
Norwood,  of  Indiana. 

The  convention  appointed  the  previous  year  in  New  York,  "to  prepare 
a  plan  of  organization,"  and  of  which  Dr.  Davis  was  an  active  and  influen- 
tial member,  and  in  a  large  sense  the  constructive  member,  reported  an 
elaborate  plan  which  was  adopted  and  signed  by  nearly  all  the  members 
of  the  convention.  The  first  article  reads  as  follows:  "This  institution 
shall  be  known  and  distinguished  by  the  name  and  title  of  'The  American 
Medical  Association,'  and  at  the  evening  session,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
convention,  it  was 

"Rcsok'cd.  That  this  convention  do  now  resolve  itself  into  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  and  that  the  officers  of  the  convention  continue 
to  act  as  officers  of  the  Association,  until  others  be  appointed ;  which  was 
tmanimously  adopted."** 

Thus  on  the  evening  of  May  the  seventh,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  the 
American  Medical  Association  sprang  into  existence,  and  began  its  mem.or- 
able  career.  It  was  an  act  of  great  historic  importance  to  our  profession, 
and  it  was  peculiarly  appropriate  and  felicitous  that  it  should  occur  in 
the  "City  of  Brotherly  Love." 

If  it  is  possible  to  imagine  that  Nathan  Smith  Davis  ever  had  any 
feeling  of  self-congratulation  about  him,  such  must  have  been  his  state 
of  mind  as  he  wended  his  way  back  to  the  peaceful  s'hades  of  Binghamton, 
and  resumed  his  rounds  of  house  to  house  visitation  of  the  sick  and 
suffering. 


*Trans.  Am.  Med.  Ass'n.,  I,  36. 
**0p.  Cit,  p.  47. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Relations  to  American  Medical  Association — (Continued). 

No  other  enterprise  or  organization  so  captivated  and  held  Dr.  Davis' 
thoughts  and  efforts  as  did  the  American  Medical  Association.  From  the 
meeting  of  the  first  "National  Convention"  (of  Physicians),  in  New  York, 
May  5th,  1846,  to  his  death,  in  1904,  his  interest  in,  and  labors  in  behalf 
of,  the  Association  never  wavered.  From  the  first  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion proper  in  1847  until  his  last  attendance  in  1897  I  am  told  that  he  missed 
"but  four  meetings,  and  from  these  he  was  kept  by  causes  unavoidable. 

At  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Association  he  was  always  a  power.  As 
a  debater  it  is  probably  safe  to  say  that  he  was  not  only  ths  peer,  but  the 
superior  of  any  other  member.  Whenever  he  rose  to  speak,  he  was  sure  of 
the  respectful  attention  of  every  member  present.  It  was  not  regarded  as 
desirable  to  be  ranked  among  his  opponents  in  a  debate  which  aroused  his 
•combativeness.  In  the  matter  of  meekness,  he  was  no  rival  of  Moses,  and 
lie  never  tried  very  hard  to  rob  Job  of  his  pre-eminence  as  "the  patientest 
man."  His  manner  was  sometimes  imperious,  and  his  stock  of  sarcasm  and 
invective  never  failed  to  respond  to  his  demands.  But  his  arguments  were 
solid,  logical  and  generally  iirefragable.  His  diction  was  not  what  would 
he  called  "elegant,"  but  it  was  of  that  terse,  condensed  and  "penetrating" 
kind  that  was  more  effective  than  the  more  effusive  and  oily  oratory  of  the 
so-called  "elegant"  speakers. 

He  nearly  always  participated  in  the  scientific  and  secular  debates  of 
the  Association,  and  his  opinions  were  always  received  with  unqualified 
and  genuine  respect,  although  they  were  not  always  accorded  the  value 
which  he  himself  attached  to  them.  He  was  on  various  committees  at 
various  times,  and  a  most  faithful  and  efficient  counsellor  he  was. 

Of  course  we  cannot  record  here  all  his  sayings  and  doings  at  the 
many  meetings  of  the  Association  which  he  attended,  but  we  wish  to  select 
and  direct  attention  to  a  few  of  the  important  episodes  of  which  he  was 
the  center,  or  in  which  he  was  a  prominent  actor. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  adjourned  convention  of  May,  1847, 
which  "resolved  itself  into  the  American  Medical  Association,"  there  was  a 
committee  on  "Indigenous  Botany"  appointed,  "under  the  resolution  of  Dr. 
N.  S.  Davis."  At  the  succeeding  meeting,  in  Baltimore  in  Mav.  1848, — 
■"the  first  annual  mcctjij" — Dr.  Davis,  as  chairman  of  tlie  c::mn';ittce,  pre- 


48        RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED) 

sented  a  report  occupying  seventeen  pages  of  the  Transactions,  in  which 
he  discussed  the  medical  properties  of  the  "rumex,  or  water  dock;  the 
Lycopus  virginicus;  the  Hamamelis  virginicus,  and  the  Cimicifuga  race- 
}nosa."  At  the  next  annual  meeting,  in  Boston,  May,  1849,  Dr.  Davis  con- 
tinued his  report,  which  was  supplemented  by  papers  from  Dr.  S.  W. 
A\'illiams,  of  IMassachusetts,  and  Dr.  F.  P.  Porcher,  of  South  Carolina,  re- 
spectively. It  was  his  original  design  to  have  this  committee  continue  its 
work  from  year  to  year,  with  the  view  of  extending  the  knowledge  of  the 
profession  as  to  our  indigenous  materia  medica,  a  work  which  had  never 
been  undertaken  in  a  systematic  and  persistent  manner.  But  after  present- 
ing his  report  to  the  Boston  meeting  in  1849,  he  resigned  from  the  com- 
mittee, and  his  resignation  was  accepted. 

The  session  of  1850  was  held  in  Cincinnati.  The  session  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  a  very  eventful  one,  but  in  the  "History  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,"  written  by  Dr.  Davis,  I  read  that  "the  only  paper 
read  to  the  meeting  of  the  Association  in  Cincinnati,  founded  on  original 
physiological  investigations,  was  a  short  one  by  N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.,  of 
Chicago,  Illinois.  It  contained  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  attract 
attention,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe."*  Upon  turning  to  the  volume 
of  Transactions  for  1850,  we  find  the  only  paper  presented  by  Dr.  Davis 
was  entitled  "Has  the  Cerebellum  any  Special  Connection  with  the  Sexual 
Propensity,  or  Function  of  Generation?"  This  paper  was  a  discussion  of 
the  different  theories  as  to  the  function  of  the  cerebellum  held  by  the 
"phrenologists,"  and  the  current  authorities  on  physiology,  more  especially 
the  opinion  of  Dr.  Wm.  B.  Carpenter,  of  London,  whose  voluminous 
treatises  on  physiology  were  then  accorded  very  high  standing.  It  is  alto- 
gether likely,  therefore,  that  this  paper  did  "attract  attention  both  in  this 
country  and  Europe." 

The  session  of  185 1  was  held  at  Charleston.  S.  C.  Quite  a  large 
number  of  the  members  from  the  northwestern  and  northeastern  cities  as- 
sembled at  New  York  "and  proceeded  thence  to  Charleston  by  way  of  the 
Atlantic,"  says  Dr.  Davis,  and  he  adds,  "to  much  the  larger  number,  this 
was  their  first  trip  on  the  wide  ocean,  and  long  will  they  remember  it." 
The  afternoon  on  which  they  "dropped  quietly  down  the  bay"  had  been 
fair  and  pleasant,  and  "all  on  board  was  life,  animation  and  g'ayety."  The 
afternoon  passed,  evening  came  with  its  social  enjoyment,  and  in  due  time, 
"one  after  another  retired  to  their  staterooms  and  berths,  apparently  as 
quiet  and  secure  as  in  their  private  dwellings  among  their,  own  native  hills."' 
It  was,  however,  another  case  of  misplaced  confidence  in  the  old  Atlantic, 

^'Hist.  Am.  Med.  Ass'n.,  bj^  N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.,  1855.     (A  series  of  papers,  first 
published  anonymously  in  the  Nczv  Jersey  Medical  Reporter.     I.  N.  D.) 


RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUE!))         49 

especially  that  part  of  the  Atlantic  that  cultivates  too  intimate  relations  with 
Cape  Hatteras,  for,  continues  Dr.  Davis,  "midnight  comes,  and  what  a 
■change !  The  rain  pours  in  torrents  on  the  decks,  the  wind  rattles  every 
movable  thing  on  board,  while  wave  after  wave  breaks  in  torrents  of  spray 
around  the  ship,  giving  a  mingling  of  sounds  heard  nowhere  else  but  on  a 
lone  ship  tossed  upon  the  wild  and  boisterous  waves.  In  the  meantime,  the 
swaying  of  the  ship  rocks  the  sleepers  in  their  berths  like  the  child  in  his 
cradle.  But,  alas !  that  rocking  soon  awakens  a  large  proportion  of  our 
doctors,  with  feelings  very  much  as  though  they  had  swallowed  half  of 
the  ipecac  in  a  respectable  drug  shop."  But  our  good  doctor  himself 
escaped  the  dreaded  mal-dc-mcr,  and  he  adds  that  "though  feeling  a  cordial 
sympathy  for  the  sick,  yet  being  entirely  exempt  myself,  it  was  a  season 
■of  pecfdiar  enjoyment."  The  writer  hereof  can  himself  testify  that  there  is 
very  much  more  "peculiar  enjoyment"  in  seeing  other  p,eople  wrestle  with 
sea- sickness  than  in  doing  it  himself. 

But  the  delegates  arrived  at  Charleston  safe  and  sound,  and  the  session 
passed  off  pleasantly  and  harmoniously.  Did  any  of  those  delegates  reahze 
that  in  little  more  than  anotlier  decade  the  political  volcano  over  which  they 
stood  would  break  forth  with  an  irruption  that  would  astound  the  world? 

At  this  session.  Dr.  Davis  read  a  paper  on  "An  Experimental  Inquiry 
Concerning  Some  Points  Connected  with  the  Processes  of  Assimilation  and 
Nutrition." 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  the  Medical  Association  of  South 
Carolina  gave  a  "splendid  banquet"  to  their  guests,  and  then  and  there,  "for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Association,  wines  and  strong  drink  were 
freely  furnished  as  a  part  of  the  entertainment,"  says  Dr.  Davis,  evidently 
to  his  mortification  and  disgust. 

As  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  numerous  papers  which  Dr.  Davis  read 
before  the  Association  may  be  found  in  Chapter  XII  of  this  memoir,  I 
shall  omit  them  here,  but  shall  content  myself  with  noticing  some  of  the 
important  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  Association  in  which  Dr.  Davis 
played  an  important  part. 

At  the  thirteenth  annual  meeting  of  the  Association,  held  in  the  chapel 
of  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  June  5th,  6th  and  7th,  i860,  it  was 
voted  that  the  next  'annual  meeting  should  be  held  in  Chicago  in  June, 
1861,  and  Dr.  Davis  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrangements. 
But  before  the  time  came  for  making  arrangements,  the  country  was  con- 
vulsed b}^  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  and  in  accordance  with  the  almost 
■universal  sentiment  of  the  profession,  the  session  of  1861  was  postponed 
i:mtil  the  following  year.  But  when  June,  1862,  came  around,  the  same 
■reason  which  existed  in  1861  now  obtained  with  greatly  increased  intensity, 


50        RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED) 

with  the  added  reason  that  a  great  many  of  the  more  prominent  members 
of  the  Association  were  in  the  field  with  the  vast  armies  which  were  called 
into  being,  both  north  and  south,  and  so  the  session  for  1862  was  abandoned. 
Those  of  us  who  remember  those  awful  times  can  readily  understand  that 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  call  together  any  considerable  number  of 
the  profession,  and  that  it  would  have  been  a  melancholy  gathering  at  best. 
But  before  the  time  for  the  meeting  of  1863  came  around  a  reaction  had 
taken  place,  and  there  was  a  very  general  unanimity  of  opinion  that  the 
meetings  of  the  Association  ought  to  be  resumed,  and  that  they  ought  not 
again  to  be  discontinued.  Accordingly,  the  fourteenth  session  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association  was  held  in  the  old  Bryan  Hall,  Chicago,  111.,. 
June  2,  3  and  4,  1863.  Dr.  Davis,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements, delivered  the  address  of  welcome,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
uttered  some  denunciations  of  our  erring  southern  brethren,  which  looked 
better  in  print  then  than  they  would  now.  The  meeting  was  a  profitable  and 
harmonious  one,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  an  undercurrent  of  quiet 
but  deep  loyalty  to  their  country,  and  of  sorrow  for  the  absence  of  the 
southern  delegates,  was  manifest  throughout  the  whole  session. 

At  the  session  of  1864,  held  in  New  York  in  June,  Dr.  Davis  was  elected 
president,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Alden  March,  of  Al- 
bany. His  conduct  as  presiding  officer  gave  great  satisfaction.  He  was 
calm  and  deliberate,  yet  prompt  and  positive  in  his  rulings,  and  he  displayed 
an  intimacy,  not  only  with  parliamentary  law,  but  with  parliamentary  prac- 
tice, that  delighted  his  friends,  and  surprised  his  enemies,  of  which  he  was 
always  fortunate  enough  to  have  his  share. 

A  change  in  the  organic  law  of  the  Association  was  made — or  rather 
completed — at  the  New  York  meeting,  which  does  not  concern  us  here 
except  that  one  of  its  immediate  effects  was  that  the  president  of  1864. 
held  over,  and  presided  over  the  session  of  1865,  which  was  held  in 
June  in  the  State  House  in  Boston,  overlooking  Boston  Common,  and 
within  ''sympathetic"  distance  of  the  "Old  South  Meeting  House,"  the 
"Old  State  House,"  at  the  head  of  State  street,  and  the  venerable  old 
"Cradle  of  Liberty,"  Fanueil  Hall.  The  awful  civil  war  was  just  closing ; 
only  a  couple  of  months  before  the  idolized  Lincoln  had  been  assassinated ; 
the  north  was  bowed  with  sorrow,  yet  hot  with  indignation ;  politics  ran 
high,  and  patriotism  was  at  a  white  heat;  vacant  chairs,  or  crutches,  or 
empty  sleeves  were  everywhere,  and  the  public  mind  was  in  that  sensi- 
tive, hair-trigger  state  that  required  only  a  breath  of  suspicion  to- arouse 
an  explosion.  Dr.  Davis  was  a  democrat;  he  was  at  that  time  little 
known  in  Ncav  England,  except  by  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  medical 
men  of  the  larger  cities.     A  cruel,  absolutely  baseless  and  absurd  rumor 


RELATIONS   TO  THE   AMERICAN    MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION     (CONTINUED)       5 1 

somehow  got  afloat  in  New  England  that  he  had  "southern  procHvities," 
and  that  the  victories  of  Grant  and  Sherman  gave  him  no  joy  or  comfort. 
And  there  was  for  a  short  time  preceding  the  date  of  the  Boston  meeting  of 
the  Association,  a  strongly  pronounced  sentiment  that  he  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  preside  at  that  meeting.  But  it  was  short-lived ;  local  rather 
than  general,  and  was  not  countenanced  or  even  tolerated  by  the  prominent 
and  influential  New  England  members  of  the  Association  who  knew  Dr. 
Davis,  and  knew  the  nobility  of  his  character,  and  the  flavor  of  his  loyalty 
to  his  country  and  its  institutions.  Nevertheless,  it  must  have  been  a  time 
of  sore  trial  to  Dr.  Davis,  in  spite  of  his  calm  and  unruffled  exterior. 

But  when  the  hour  of  meeting  arrived.  Dr.  Davis  calmly  took  pos- 
session of  the  speaker's  chair  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 


Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  at  the  age  of  46 — from  photograph 
by  Fassett,  Chicago. 

in  the  Massachusetts  State  House,  called  the  Association  to  order  without 
the  slightest  embarrassment,  or  tremor  of  voice  or  musc.e,  apparently  ab- 
solutely oblivious  of  the  fact  that  a  word  had  been  uttered  in  his  dispraise. 
It  was  a  very  dramatic  scene,  although  the  chief  actor  in  the  drama  did  not 
seem  to  know  it.  But  it  was  doubtless  a  great  sense  of  relief  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Association,  when  they  found  the  wheels  of  business  moving  so 
smoothly,  and  under  the  guidance  of  an  associate  so  well-beloved  as  Dr. 
Davis.  He  won  golden  opinions  for  his  ability,  parliamentary  knowledge 
and  fairness,  and  when,  at  the  close  of  the  session,  the  customary  compli- 
mentary vote  of  thanks  was  passe-d,  some  enthusiast  called  for  "three  cheers 
for  Dr.  Davis,"  and  they  were  given  with  a  will.  And  these  cheers  were 
given  in  Boston,  on  Beacon  Hill,  and  in  the  State  House.  Alas  for  Boston 
dignity ! 


52        RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED) 

President  Davis  delivered  bis  "Presidential  Address"  on  the  second 
day.  according  to  custom,  and  it  was  a  noble  effort.,  abounding-  in  lofty  senti- 
ments and  high  toned  patriotism,  appropriate  to  the  peculiar  but  solemn 
times,  and  the  grand  old  city,  the  pride  of  all  Americans.  Its  closing  sen- 
tence is  so  characteristic  of  the  man.  and  breathes  such  a  noble  spirit  of 
altruism  that  I  cannot  help  quoting  it:  "Finally  let  us  all  remember,  not 
onlv  while  transacting  the  business  of  this  annual  session,  but  also  in  all  the 
work  that  is  before  us  in  the  future,  that  the  great  object  of  a  virtuous  and 
happy  life  is  neither  worldly  honors  nor  worldly  treasures,  but  an  inward 
consciousness  of  doing  good  from  day  to  day."  And  Dr.  Davis  practised 
■what  he  preached. 


Obverse  face  of  American  Medical  Association  Medal, 
struck  in  1875;  now  very  rare. 

At  the  eighteenth  annual  session,  in  Cincinnati,  May,  1867,  Dr.  Davis 
made  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed  at  the  session  in  Baltimore  in 
1866  to  call  a  convention  of  teachers  in  the  various  medical  colleges  for 
the  purpose  of  agreeing  upon  a  uniform  scale  of  preparatory  recjuirements, 
and  a  uniform  scheme  of  medical  education,  to  be  adopted  by  medical 
schools  throughout  the  country.  The  convention  met  in  Cincinnati,  and 
organized  the  American  Medical  College  Association,  which  has  done  so 
much  towards  reforming  the  lax  methods  of  medical  education  then  in 
vogue,  and  which  is  still  in  active  helpful  existence. 

At  the  twenty-fourth  annual  session  held  in  .St.  Louis,  June,  1873,  Dr. 
Davis  brought  forward  a  plan  calling  for  the  appointment  of  a  "Judicial 
Council."  which  was  adopted,  and  the  work  of  this  council  has  proven. 
salutary  and  helpful  to  a  large  degree. 


RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN   MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED)  53 

At  the  twenty-fifth  session  held  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  June,  1874,  Dr. 
Davis  was  called  upon  to  respond  to  the  address  of  the  delegates  from  the 
•Canadian  Medical  Association,  a  duty  that,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  ably  and 
satisfactorily  performed. 

At  this  same  Detroit  meeting,  on  motion  of  Dr.  H.  F.  Askew,  of  Dela- 
ware, it  was  "Resolved  that  a  suitable  die  for  a  medal,  with  a  likeness 
of  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  on  one  side,  and  the  name  and  date  of  the  organiza- 
tion on  the  other  side,  be  procured  by  this  Association,  and  that  hereafter 
•one  be  furnished  to  each  delegate  on  becoming  a  member."  The  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  and  "Drs.  Toner,  Woodward  and  Keller  were  appointed 
.a  committee  to   procure  the  die."     On  motion  it  was   "Resolved  that   aM 


Reverse  face  of  Medal  referred  to  above. 

present  as  well  as  all  future  members  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
be  furnished  with  the  medal  ordered  by  the  Association."* 

At  the  next  meeting,  held  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  May,  1875,  Dr.  Toner, 
■chairman  of  the  foregoing  committee,  reported  that  in  accordance  with  the 
resolution  (quoted  above),  "they  have  procured  an  excellent  die  with  a 
faithful  likeness,  as  directed.  *  *  *  It  will  be  remembered  by  the 
members  of  the  Association  that  the  resolution  passed  at  the  last  session 
of  this  body,  provided  that  hereafter  a  copy  of  the  medal  should  be  fur- 
nished to  each  delegate  on  becoming  a  member.  On  corresponding  with  the 
treasurer,  however,  it  was  found  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  resolution  was 
not  so  worded  as  to  authorize  any  expenditure  of  money  for  any  other  pur- 


'^Transactions,  Vol.  25,  p.  47. 


54        RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED) 

pose  than  to  procure  a  die."*  So  the  project  of  furnishing  delegates  "who  be- 
came members"  fell  through  "en  a  technicality,"  as  the  lawyers  say.  But 
the  Association  gravely  accepted  the  report,  which  proved  almost  a  death- 
warrant  to  the  die,  since  the  hyper-legal  mind  of  the  treasurer  had  evolved 
a  "decision"  onlv  a  little  less  astute  than  that  of  Portia  in  the  Merchant 
of  Venice. 

A  few  copies  of  the  medal  were  sold  at  a  dollar  and  twelve  cents  each, 
but  the  great  majority  of  the  present  members  of  the  Association  probably 
never  heard  of  it,  and  therefore  we  have  thought  best  to  reproduce  it  in  the 
exact  size  of  a  copy  of  the  medal  which  Mrs.  Davis  has  kindly  furnished. 
It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  this  laudable  scheme  was  nipped  in  the  bud 
so  early  and  so  needlessly,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Association  will 
yet  make  some  arrangement  to  furnish  copies  of  the  medal  to  its  members. 

The  idea  of  establishing  a  weekly  journal,  as  the  official  organ  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  just  as  the  British  Medical  Journal  is  the 
organ  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  seems  to  have  been  first  suggested 
by  the  late  Dr.  S.  D.  Gross,  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  1870; 
it  was  again  advocated  in  1872,  by  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin,  and  again  in 
.1879  by  Dr.  Stanford  E.  Chailli,  of  New  Orleans.  At  the  session  of  1880 
Dr.  Foster  Pratt  once  more  brought  the  matter  before  the  Association,  but 
^yithout  any  positive  results.  At  the  following  session  (1881)  Dr.  John 
H.  Packard,  of  Philadelphia,  moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
investigate  the  subject  and  report  at  the  next  meeting;  said  committee  was 
appointed  and  reported  favorably  the  following  year  (at  the  session  held 
in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  June,  1882),  whereupon  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  offered  resolu- 
tions authorizing  and  ordering  the  establishment  of  a  weekly  journal, 
to  take  the  place  of  the  annual  volume  of  "Transactions,"  which  had  be- 
come too  ponderous  for  convenience,  and  was  too  tardy  to  answer  the 
demands  of  the  present  generation.  The  resolutions  VN?ere  adopted,  Dr. 
Davis  was  chosen  editor  by  the  trustees,  and  the  first  number  of  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  appeared  on  the  14th  day 
of  July,  1883. 

Dr.  Davis  held  the  position  of  editor  until  December  31,  1888,  when  he 
insisted  upon  being  relieved,  as  even  his  iron  constitution  was  beginning  to 
feel  the  burden  of  three  score  and  ten  years.  But  under  his  experienced 
and  judicious  management,  the  Journal  reached  the  point  where  it  was  no 
longer  an  experiment  or  a  stranger  in  the  journalistic  world,  and  he  felt 
that  his  services  could  be  spared.  He  lived  to  see  the  Journal  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association  one  of  the  strongest,  most  generously  patronized 
and  most  influential  medical   journals  in  the  world. 


'''Transactions,  Vol.  26,  p.  35. 


RELATIONS  TO  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (CONTINUED)         55 

At  the  forty-first  session  of  the  Association  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Ma\- 
2,  1890,  Dr.  Davis  delivered  the  "Address  on  Medicine." 

The  session  of  1881,  at  Richmond,  seems  to  have  been  deeply  stirred  by 
a  proposed  amendment  to  the  "Code  of  Ethics,"  a  subject  which  was 
always  sure  to  call  forth  some  lively  forensic  tilts,  and  which  was  pretty 
certain  to  arouse  Dr.  Davis,  and  put  him  on  his  mettle.  But  this  particular 
occasion  seems  to  have  called  forth  his  best  efforts,  although  there  is  no 
report  of  his  speech  in  the  Transactions,  and  I  have  not  been  fortunate 
enough  to  find  a  record  of  it  in  any  of  the  contemporary  medical  periodicals 
in  our  libraries.*  But  the  following  letter,  which  I  copy  without  any 
change,  seems  to  indicate  that  Dr.  Davis'  "oration"  must  have  been  a  very 
powerful  and  telling  one,  although  Dr.  Linthicum  appears  to  have  made  a 
verbal  error  when  he  speaks  of  the  "amendment  to  the  constitution,"  which, 
according  to  the  official  report  in  the  Transactions,  was  an  amendment  to 
the  code  of  ethics.    Following  is  Dr.  Linthicum's  letter: 

Helena,  Ark.,  May  27,  1881. 
N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.  : 

My  Dear  Sir: — I  am  at  home,  and  all  the  excitement  of  my  trip,  and 
the  late  business  of  the  "American  Medical  Association"  is  over;  and  I 
can  think  and  reason  dispassionate^  with  myself. 

After  mature  deliberation  and  reflection,  I  am  more  and  more  of  the 
opinion  that  I  formed,  during  the  delivery  and  at  the  close  of  your  oration, 
in  defense  of  the  honor  of  your  profession,  that  it  was  the  ablest  effort  of 
your  life,  one  that  I  have  never  heard  equalled,  and  I  have  heard  Clay  and 
Webster  in  their  palmy  days.  In  honoring-  your  profession,  you  have  glori- 
fied yourself  and  inscribed  your  name  in  golden  letters  in  the  topmost  niche 
of  the  "Temple  of  Fame."  My  great  regret,  and  that  of  very  many  others 
who  listened  to  your  defense  of  your  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the 
A.  M.  A.  at  Richmond,  Va.,  was  the  probability  that  we  would  never  see  it 
in  print,  and  that  it  would  be  lost  to  the  profession  and  the  world,  as  there 
was  no  stenographer  present.  I  now  write  to  urge  upon  you  the  importance 
of  your  leaving  it  in  manuscript  among  your  papers,  that  it  may  live  after 
you,  for  the  benefit  of  generations  that  are  coming  on  and  yet  unborn.  The 
literature  of  our  profession  cannot  afiford  to  lose  so  precious  a  gem.  I  am 
no  flatterer  or  toady,  and  I  write  in  no  such  sense,  but  in  the  interest  of  a 
profession  that  I  love  and  cherish.     Can't  you  do  it?** 

Very  Sincerely  Yours, 

D.  A.  Linthicum.    - 


*A  few  memoranda  on  a  prescription  blank  were  the  speaker's  sole  "manuscript.' 
**If  Dr.  Davis  left  any  such  manuscript,  it  has  been  lost. 


56        RELATION'S  TO  THE  AMERICAX  ^lEDICAL  ASSOCIATION    (cOXTIXUEd) 

As  Dr.  Davis  had  for  an  opponent  the  late  Prof.  E.  S.  Dunster,  of 
Ann  Arbor,  ]\Iich.,  one  of  the  most  effective  speakers  on  the  floor  of  the 
Association,  it  is  quite  certain  tfiat  the  members  of  the  Association  heard 
some  fine  speeches  and  some  keen  debating. 

In  the  Journal  of  jNIarch  loth,  1891,  we  find  a  letter  from  Dr.  Davis 
calling  for  a  meeting  of  physicians  who  were  interested  in  the  promotion 
of  temperance,  to  meet  at  the  approaching  session  of  the  ]\Iedical  Associa- 
tion in  Washington,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  the  "American  Medical 
Temperance  Society."  This  meeting  took  place  at  the  time  designated,  and 
was  well  attended ;  the  "society"  was  organized.  Dr.  Davis  was  elected  its 
first  President,  and  the  organization  is  still  doing  excellent  work — another 
legacy  from  this  many-sided  man,  to  his  surviving  confreres. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Connection  with  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress. 

The  "Ninth  International  Medical  Congress,"  composed  of  men  emi- 
nent in  all  departments  of  medicine  and  cognate  sciences  from  all  over  the 
world,  assembled  in  Albaugh's  Theater  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
on  the  5th  of  September,  1887,  ^^^  continued  in  session  until  and  includ- 
ing" the  loth  inst.  After  a  brief  and  very  characteristic  speech  of  welcome 
from  President  Grover  Cleveland,  the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, Professor  Henry  Ilollingsworth  Smith,  said :  "It  is  now  my  duty 
to  present  for  your  approval  the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  Congress 
agreed  upon  by  the  Executive  Committee.  For  the  high  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  Congress,  the  committee  unanimously  nominate  to  you  one 
widely  known  as  a  scientific  practitioner,  an  able  teacher  and  medical 
author,  Dr.  Nathan  Smith  Davis,  of  Chicago.  All  approving  .this  nomina- 
tion will  say  'aye.'  "*  The  motion  was  carried  with  applause.  But  Dr. 
Davis  was  not  the  original  choice  of  the  Committee  on  Preliminary  Or- 
ganization for  President  of  the  Congress,  and  it  therefore  becomes  neces- 
sary for  us  to  consult  history  and  enter  into  some  explanations. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  held  in 
Washington  in  the  spring  of  1884,  the  President,  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  in  his 
annual  address  recommended  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  report 
upon  the  propriety  of  extending  an  invitation  to  the  International  Medical 
Congress  of  1887  to  meet  in  this  country.  Following  this  suggestion,  a 
Committee  of  Invitation  was  appointed,  whereof  Dr.  Flint,  President  of 
the  Association,  was  chairman.  This  committee  proceeded  to  Copenhagen, 
where  the  International  Medical  Congress  of  1884  met,  and  formally  in- 
vited the  Congress  to  meet  in  Washington  in  1887.  The  invitation  was 
accepted,  and  the  committee  returned  home.  But  the  resolutions  under 
which  the  committee  was  appointed,  also  authorized  said  committee  to 
add  to  its  members,  and  act  as  a  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  effecting- 
a  preliminary  organization'''*  of  the  proposed  Congress,  provided  the  invi- 
tation was  accepted.  The  committee  accordingly  met,  increased  its  num- 
ber from  eight  to  twenty-five,  and  at  this  or  subsequent  meetings  or  by 

"^Transactions,  2. 

**Hence  sometimes  called  "Committee  on  Preliminary  Organization." 


58       CONNECTION  WITH   THE  NINTH   INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL   CONGRESS 

correspondence,  made  arrangements  for  the  preliminar}'  organization  of 
the  Congress,  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
in  New  Orleans  in  April,  1885. 

At  this  meeting,  Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  the  Secretary-General  of  the  com- 
mittee, made  a  report,  embodying  the  doings  of  the  committee  up  to  that 
date.  The  report  was  severely  criticised  on  the  ground;  (i)  that  the 
committee  had  awarded  pretty  much  all  the  chief  offices  of  the  Congress 
to  its  own  members;  (2)  that  it  had  centred  an  unduly  large  proportion  of 
the  officers  of  sections  in  two  or  three  cities,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest 
of  the  country;  and  (3)  that  it  had  given  an  undue  prominence  to  a 
portion  of  the  profession  in  New  York,  which  was  weU  known  to  have 
arrayed  itself  in  opposition  to  the  State  and  National  organizations  of  the 
profession  generally.  A  vigorous  discussion  ensued,  which  resulted  in  the 
addition  to  the  original  committee  of  eight,  of  one  member  from  each 
State  and  Territory,  one  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  one'  each 
from  the  Army,  Navy  and  Marine  Hospital  Departments,  making  in  all 
a  committee  of  45  members,  exclusive  of  the  fifteen  members  added  by 
the  original  committee  at  its  first  meeting,  who  were  dropped. 

This  action  gave  some  color  of  validity  to  the  objections  urged  against 
the  doings  of  the  committee  as  above  noted. 

The  new  committee  met  in  Chicago,  June  24th,  1885,  organized,  and 
transacted  some  business  including  the  substitution  of  other  names  for 
officers,  in  place  of  those  nominated  by  the  first  committee,  who  had  repu- 
diated the  Code  of  Ethics.  This  laid  bare  an  old  sore,  and  trouble  began 
at  once.  Five  members  of  the  committee,  who  had  been  members  of  the 
original  committee,  resigned,  and  this  caused  much  embarrassment,  as  it 
made  it  difficult  to  assemble  a  quorum;  a  few  members  of  the  profession 
— from  15  to  30 — in  the  cities  of  Philadelphia,  Washington,  Boston  and 
Baltimore,  met  and  decided  to  have  no  connection  with  the  Congress,  or 
with  making  any  arrangements  for  its  entertainment.  And  then  com- 
menced a  long,  weary  and  acrimonious  controversy  conducted  mainly 
in  the  Medical  Times,  of  Philadelphia,  the  Medical  Record  and  the  Nc-zo 
York  Medical  Journal,  of  New  York,  on  one  side,  and  the  Journal  of  ihc 
American  Medical  Association  on  the  other,  which  lasted  pretty  much 
through  the  year  1885.  Other  journals  in  the  United  vStates,  and  a  few  in 
Europe  gave  some  languid  attention  to  the  matter,  but  those  above-men- 
tioned threw  most  of  the  hot  shot. 

But  the  matters  involved  in  the  controversy  have  long  ago  ceased  to 
be  vital,  and  we  may  therefore  pass  them  in  silence,  albeit  had  it  not  been 
for  a  few  level-headed  men,  the  International  Medical  Congress  of  1887 
would  have  been  a  failure. 


CONNECTION  WITH  THE  NINTH  INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL  CONGRESS      59 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  met  in  New  York  City,  September 
3,  1885,  for  the  transaction  of  necessary  business,  inchiding  the  nomina- 
tion of  candidates  for  officers  of  the  Congress.  The  committee  reported  as 
follows:  For  President,  Austin  Flint,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  New  York;  for 
Secretary-General,  Nathan  S.  Davis,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Illinois,  besides 
Presidents  of  Sections  and  other  officers. 

Having  completed  their  business,  the  committee  adjourned  subject  to 
call,  having,  as  they  believed,  nearly  completed  the  preliminary  plans  for 
the  organization  of  the  approaching  Congress. 

But  human  plans  are  not  infallible,  and  human  foresight  is  limited 
by  a  very  restricted  horizon ;  another  heavy  blow  was  lying  in  wait  for  the 
International  Medical  Congress  of  1887.  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  the  prospective 
President  of  the  Congress,  was  suddenly  stricken  with  cerebral  hemor- 
rhage and  died  March  13,  1886.  Dr.  Flint  stood  in  the  forefront  of  the 
medical  profession,  not  only  of  this  country,  but  of  the  world,  and  his  loss 
was  felt  accordingly.  Of  course  the  c[uestion  as  to  who  should  fill  the  place 
of  President  of  the  approaching  Congress,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Dr.  Flint,  became  at  once  acute  and  pressing. 

There  must  have  been  some  interesting  discussions  at  the  sessions  of 
the  "Committee  of  Arrangements,"'"  and  some  private  exchanges  of  opinion 
among  the  members  thereof,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  over- 
heard. Dr.  Davis  was  to  be  Secretary-General,  and  thus  would  be  in  the 
line  of  "promotion,"  which  may  have  1;een  a  make-weight.  But  as  a  pre- 
siding officer  and  parliamentarian,  he  had  already  been  tried,  and  there 
was  no  question  as  to  his  ability  in  those  particulars.  Again  his  age  and 
unquestionable  position  of  prominence — not  to  say  eminence — in  the  medi- 
cal profession  of  the  United  States,  made  his  candidacy  almost  a  foregone 
conclusion.  On  the  other  hand,  he  v^^as  the  most  prominent  member  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  was  an  uncompromisingly  "orthodox" 
supporter  of  the  "Code  of  Ethics,"  was  editor  of  the  Journal  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  and  was  aggressively  severe  in  his  editorial^ 
on  the  conduct  of  the  few  recalcitrants — eminent  though  thev  were — who 
were  out  of  sorts  with  the  Association  and  its  attempts  to  manage  the 
Congress.  And  the  old  "Ethical"  ulcer  of  several  years  prior,  which  was 
an  especially  touchy  subject  to  some  of  the  New  York  men — and  men 
whose  names  always  did  and  always  will  command  the  deepest  respect 
of  their' professional  confreres — broke  out  again,  and  aggravated  and  en:- 
bittered  the  journalistic  controversy. 

Nevertheless,  at  the  37th  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  held  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  4th,  5th,  6th  and  7th,  1886,  Dr. 

■'"Called  also  "Committee  on  Preliminary  Organization." 


60       CONNECTION  WITH   THE  NINTH   INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL   CONGRESS 

J.  S.  Lvnch,  of  Baltimore,  chairman  of  Committee  on  Preliminary  Organi- 
zation, presented  the  name  of  "Xathan  Smith  Davis,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of 
Illinois,"  as  the  nominee  of  the  American  Medical  Association^  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  Ninth  International  jNIedical  Congress.  At  the  same  time,  he 
presented  the  name  of  John  B.  Hamilton,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  as  the 
candidate  for  Secretar3--General  in  place  of  Dr.  Davis,  together  with 
various  other  names  for  various  other  offices  connected  with  the  Congress. 
The  recommendations  were  adopted,  v.'hereupon  in  order  to  "clinch  things." 
Dr.  Henry  H.  Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  made  a  motion  to  "reconsider," 
which  upon  motion  of  Dr.  A.  L.  Gihon,  was  laid  on  table.  Meantime, 
the  feelings  of  discord — which  were  largely  due  to  misunderstanding — 
began  to  die  away,  the  peppery  editorials  and  other  communications  in 
the  journals  ceased,  a  wave  of  reaction  came,  and  there  was  a  "great 
calm." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  County  Medical  Association,  Feby. 
2ist,  1887,  the  President,  Dr.  John  Shrady,  said:  "Our  Medical  RepubHc 
is  now  at  peace,  and  we  are  amply  able  to  receive  visitors  from  abroad, 
and  render  their  stay  agreeable  as  well  as  perhaps  profitable."  And  this 
speedily  became  the  sentiment  of  the  profession  throughout  the  country,  to 
the  great  relief  of  those  who  were  immediately  concerned  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  Congress. 

On  the  first  day's  session  of  the  Congress,  President  Davis  delivered 
his  inaugural  address,  and  as  he  was  the  first  American  President  of  an 
International  Medical  Congress,  we  think  the  event  warrants  the  repro- 
duction of  the  address   in  its  entirety.     It  is  as   follows : 

Gentlemen : 

It  is  my  first  sad  duty  to  remind  you  that  death  lias  re- 
moved from  among  us  one  to  whom,  more  than  to  any  other,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  privilege  of  having  the  Ninth  International 
Medical  Congress  in  America.  One  whose  urbanity,  erudition, 
valuable  contributions  to  medical  literature  and  eminence  as  a 
teacher,  caused  him  not  only  to  be  universally  regarded  the  most 
influential  leader  in  all  the  preparatory  work,  but  also  the  one 
unanimously  designated  to  preside  over  your  deliberations  on 
this  occasion.  That  one  was  the  late  Professor  Austin  Flint, 
of  New  York,  who  was  taken  suddenly  from  his  earthly  labors, 
early  in  1886,  before  the  work  of  preparation  for  this  Con- 
gress had  been  half  completed.  The  true  nobility  of  his  private 
and  professional  character,  his  eminent  ability  as  a  teacher,  and, 
above    all,    the    extent    and    value    of    his    contributions    to    the 


CONNECTION   WITH  THE   NINTH   INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL  CONGRESS      6 1 

literature  and  art  of  medicine,  had  caused  him  to  be  known  and 
esteemed  by  the  profession  in  all  countries.  And,  as  you  all 
remember,  while  the  shock  of  his  death  was  fresh  upon  us,  our 
loss  seemed  well-nigh  irreparable.  But,  though  he  has  taken  his 
departure  ripe  in  years  and  full  of  honors,  yet  the  influence  of 
his  excellent  example  and  his  contributions  to  medical  science 
remain,  and  will  continue  to  exert  their  beneficent  influence 
through  all  the  generations  to  come. 

With  a  full  consciousness  of  my  own  deficiencies  and  still 
with  a  heart  over-flowing  with  gratitude,  I  thank  you  for  the 
honor  you  have  bestowed  in  selecting  me  to  preside  over  the 
deliberations  of  this  great  and  learned  assembly.  It  is  an  honor 
that  I  appreciate  as  second  to  no  other  of  a  temporal  nature  be- 
cause it  has  been  bestowed,  neither  by  conquest  nor  hereditary 
influence,  nor  yet  by  partisan  strife,  but  by  the  free  expression 
of  your  own  choice. 

Addressing  myself  now  more  directly  to  those  here  assem- 
bled, who  have  left  home  and  loved  ones  in  other  lands  and 
encountered  the  fatigue  and  dangers  of  traveling  by  sea  and 
by  land,  in  the  name  of  the  Medical  Profession  of  this  country 
I  welcome  you,  not  only  to  this  beautiful  city  and  the  hospitality 
of  its  citizens,  as  has  been  so  admirably  done  already  by  the 
honorable  representative  of  the  Government  who  has  just  taken 
his  seat,  but  I  cordially  welcome  you  to  the  whole  country  in 
whose  name  you  were  invited  here  three  years  since,  and  whose 
representatives  are  now  here,  side  by  side  with  you,  gathered 
from  the  East,  the  West,  the  North,  the  South,  as  well  as  from 
the  rugged  mountains  and  fertile  valleys  of  the  center,  to  make, 
good  the  promise  implied  by  that  invitation. 

If  they  do  not  cause  you  to  feel  at  home  and  happy,  not  only 
in  the  social  circles  and  halls  devoted  to  the  advancement  of 
science,  literature  and  art  in  this  city  of  our  nation's  pride,  but. 
wherever  you  may  choose  to  roam,  from  the  rocky  coast  of  New- 
England  on  the  Atlantic  to  the  Golden  Gate  of  the  Pacific,  it 
will  be  from  no  want  of  earnest  disposition  to  do  so. 

And  now,  I  not  only  thus  welcome  you  from  other  lands,  but 
I  take  great  pleasure  in  greeting  you  one  and  all  as  leading  rep- 
resentatives of  a  profession  whose  paramount  object  is  the  lessen- 
ing of  human  suffering,  by  preventing,  alleviating,  or  curing  dis- 
eases wherever  found,  and  in  whatever  class  or  grade  of  the 
human  family.  Nay,  more,  with  profound  reverence  I  greet  you 
as  a  noble  brotherhood,  who  in  the  practical  pursuit  of  that  one 


62       COXXECTIOX   WITH  THE  XIXTH   IXTERXATIOX.XL   MEDICAL   COXGRESS 

grand  object,  reccg'uize  no  distinction  of  country,  race  or  creed, 
but  bind  up  the  wounds  and  assuag'e  the  pains  of  the  rich  and 
poor,  ruler  and  ruled,  Christian  and  pagan,  friend  and  foe  alike. 

Xot  that  every  medical  man  does  not  love  and  defend  his 
own  country  and  fireside  with  as  fervid  a  patriotism  as  the  mem- 
bers of  any  other  class  of  men.  But  as  disease  and  pain  are 
limited  to  no  class  or  countr}-,  so  is  the  application  of  his  bene- 
ficent art  limited  only  by  the  number  of  those  sutitering  within  his 
reach. 

AMth  a  common  object  so  beneficent  in  its  nature,  and  oppor- 
tunities for  its  practical  pursuit  so  universal,  it  is  but  natural 
that  you  should  be  found  searching  for  the  most  effectual  means 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  one  object  of  lessening  human 
suffering,  in  every  field  of  nature  and  every  department  of 
human  knowledge. 

The  living  human  body — the  chief  object  of  your  solicitude,  not 
only  combines  in  itself  the  greatest  number  of  elementarv  sub- 
stances and  the  most  numerous  organs  and  varied  functions,  so  at- 
tuned to  harmonious  action  as  to  illustrate  the  operation  of  every 
law  of  physics,  every  known  force  in  nature,  and  every  step  in 
the  development  of  living  matter,  from  the  simple  aggregation 
of  protoplasm  constituting  the  germinal  cell  to  the  full-grown 
inan,  but  it  is  placed  in  appreciable  and  important  relations  with 
the  material  and  immaterial  forces  existing  in  the  world  in  which 
he  lives. 

Hence  a  complete  study  of  the  living  man,  in  health  and 
disease,  involves  a  thorough  study,  not  only  of  his  structure  and 
functions,  but  more  or  less  of  every  element  and  force  entering 
into  the  earth,  the  air  and  the  water  with  which  he  stands  in 
constant  relation. 

The  Medical  Science  of  to-day,  therefore,  embraces  not  only 
a  knowledge  of  the  living  man,  but  also  of  such  facts,  principles 
and  materials  gathered  from  every  other  department  of  human 
knowledge  as  may  increase  your  resources'  for  preventing  or 
alleviating  his  suitering  or  prolonging  his  life. 

The  time  has  been,  when  medical  studies  embraced  little 
else  than  the  fanciful  theories  and  arbitrary  dogmas  of  a  few 
leading  minds,  each  of  which  became  for  the  time  the  founder 
of  a  sect  or  so-called  school  of  medicine,  with  his  disciples  more 
or  less  numerous.  -But  with  the  development  of  general  and 
analytical  chemistry,  of  the  several  departments  of  nature 
science,    of    a    more   practical    knowledge    of    physics,    and    the 


'CONNECTION  WITH  THE  NINTH   INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  CONGRESS      63 

adoption  of  inductive  processes  of  reasoning,  the  age  of  theo- 
retical dogmas  and  of  medical  sects  blindly  following  some  more 
plausible  leader  passed  away,  leaving  but  an  infinitesimal  shadow- 
yet  visible  on  the  medical  horizon. 

So  true  is  this,  that  in  casting  our  mental  vision,  to-day,  over 
the  broad  domain  of  medicine  we  see  its  votaries  engaged,  some 
searching  for  new  facts  and  new  materials;  some  studying  new 
applications  and  better  uses  of  facts  and  materials  already  known ; 
some  of  them  are  in  the  dead  house  with  the  scalpel  and  micro- 
-scope,  not  only  studying  the  position  and  relations  of  every  part, 
from  the  obvious  bones  and  muscles  to  the  smallest  leucocyte, 
in  health;  but  also  every  deviation  caused  by  morbid  action  or 
disease.     Some  are  searching  the  fields,  the  forests,  the  earth 
.and  the  air,  both  for  knowledge  concerning  the  causes  of  disease 
and  for  additional  remedial  agents ;  some  are  in  laboratories  with 
crucible,  test  glass   and  microscope,   analyzing     every     morbid 
product  and  every  remedial  agent,   separating  the  active   prin- 
ciples from  the  crude  materials  and  demonstrating  their  action 
on  living  animals,  while  far  the  greater  number  are  at  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick  and  wounded,  applying  the  knowledge  gained  by 
all  other  workers  to  the  relief  of  human  suffering.     A  more  ac- 
tive, earnest,  ceaseless  and  beneficent  field  of  labor  is  not  open 
.to  your  vision  in  any  other  direction  or  occupied  by  any  other  pro- 
fession or  class  of  men.     And  thus  has  the  Science  of  Medicine 
become  a  vast  aggregation  of  observed  facts,  many  of  them  so 
-related  to  each  other  as  to  permit  practical  deductions  of  per- 
manent value,   while  many  others   remain   isolated  through   in- 
completeness of  investigations,  and  therefore  liable   to  prompt, 
hasty  or  even  erroneous  conclusions. 

Indeed,  the  most  defective  and  embarrassing  feature  in  the 
science  and  art  of  medicine,  at  this  time,  is  the  rapid  accumula- 
tion of  facts  furnished  by  the  vast  number  of  individual  workers, 
each  pushing  investigations  in  some  special  direction  without 
concert  with  his  fellows,  and  without  any  adeciuate  conception  of  ■ 
the  coincident  lines  of  observation  necessary  to  enable  him  to  see 
the  true  bearing  of  the  facts  he  evolves.  Hence  he  is  constantly 
mistaking  mere  coincidences  for  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect, 
and  the  pages  of  our  medical  literature  are  being  filled  with 
hastily  formed  conclusions  and  rules  of  practice  from  inadequate 
data. 

This  results,  in  part  at  least,  from  the  extent  and  variety  of 
the  fields  of  inquiry  and  the  complexity  of  the  problems   pre- 


64      CONXECTIOX  WITH  THE  XIXTH   IXTERXATIOXAL   MEDICAL  COXGRESS 

sented  for  solution.  For  nowhere  else  within  the  realms  of 
human  thought  does  the  mind  encounter  problems  requiring  for 
their  correct  solution  the  consideration  of  a  greater  number  of 
data,  than  in  the  study  of  etiology  and  pathology.  To  determine 
the  appreciable  conditions  of  the  earth,  air  and  water  of  any 
country  before,  during  and  after  invasion  of  an  epidemic  disease 
long  enough  to  include  several  consecutive  visits  of  the  same, 
is  not  possible  for  a  single  individual,  nor  for  any  number  of 
observers  acting  separately  or  without  concert. 

Yet  just  this  complete  knowledge  is  necessary  to  enable  us  to 
separate  the  conditions  that  are  merely  coincident  or  accidental 
from  those  that  are  such  constant  accompaniments  of  the  disease 
as  to  prove  a  necessary  relation  between  them.  And  it  is  only 
by  such  persistent  coincident,  systematic  observations  of  many 
individuals,  each  having  a  definite  part,  and  the  results  care- 
fully compared  anahtically  and  synthetically  at  proper  inter- 
vals, that  the  real  conditions  and  laws  controlling  the  prevalence 
and  severity  of  epidemics  can  be  clearly  demonstrated.  It  is 
not  enough  to  discover  the  primar)-  infection,  or  the  contagium 
vivum,  Avhether  it  be  the  bacillus  of  cholera,  yellow  fever,  or 
tuberculosis,  for  abundant  experience  has  shown  that  not  one 
of  these  will  extend  its  ravages  into  any  community  or  country 
unless  it  finds  there  a  soil  or  pabulum  congenial  for  its  support 
and  propagation. 

It  is  on  the  development  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  local  conditions  necessary  for  receiving  and  propa- 
gating the  specific  infections  of  disease  that  nearly  all  the  im- 
portant sanitary  measures  of  modern  times  have  been  based. 
And  it  is  on  a  further  development  of  knowledge  in  the  same 
direction,  gained  bv  more  systematic,  continuous  and  coincident 
investigation,  that  we  shall  most  successfully  protect  our  race 
from  the  pestilences  that  have  hitherto  ''walked  in  darkness  and 
wasted  at  noonday." 

It  was  an  extensive  and  ever  extending  field  of  medical 
science,  the  complexity  of  the  problems  pressing  for  solution,  and 
still  more  the  individual  responsibility  of  applying  the  re- 
sources at  command  to  the  direct  treatment  of  disease,  that 
early  disposed  medical  men  to  seek  each  other's  counsel,  to  form 
groups  or  clubs  for  comparison  of  views  and  mutual  improve- 
ment. The  manifest-  advantages  of  these  soon  prompted  more 
extended  social  gatherings,  until  at  the  present  time  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  more  active  members  of  the  profession  in  every 


CONNECTION  WITH  THE  NINTH  INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  CONGRESS      65 

civilized  countn^  are  participating-  in  municipal,  district,  National 
and  International  medical  organizations. 

The  aggregate  benefit  derived  from  all  this  active  inter- 
course is  beyond  easy  expression  in  words.  In  more  frequent 
and  familiar  comparison  of  cases  and  views  on  all  professional 
subjects  in  the  local  societies,  closer  habits  of  observation  and 
a  wider  range  of  thought  are  induced,  while  narrow  prejudices 
and  bigotry  give  place  to  generous  rivalry  and  personal  friend- 
ships. In  the  larger  gatherings,  the  formal  preparation  of  papers 
and  reports  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects  impels  their  authors 
to  a  wider  range  of  study  and  greater  mental  discipline,  while 
the  collision  with  other  minds  in  discussion  brings  all  aspects 
of  the  subject  to  view,  enlarging  the  scope  of  mental  vision, 
starting  new  trains  of  thought,  and  begetting  a  broader  and 
stronger  mental  grasp  with  purer  and  nobler  aims  in  life. 

I  think  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  no  other  one  influence 
operative  in  human  society  during  the  present  century  has  done 
as  much  to  develop  and  diffuse  medical  knowledge,  to  stimu- 
late its  practical  and  successful  application,  both  in  sanitary 
measures  for  preventing  disease  and  in  the  direct  alleviation  of 
suffering  at  the  bedside,  and  in  unifying  and  ennobling  the 
profession  itself,  as  has  been  accomplished  by  the  aggregate 
medical  society  organizations  of  the  world.  Yet  their  capacity 
for  conferring  other  and,  perhaps,  still  greater  benefits,  under 
proper  management,  will  have  become  manifest  in  the  near 
future.  And  that  I  ma.y  accomplish  the  chief  object  of  this 
address,  I  must  ask  your  indulgence  while  I  indicate  some  of 
the  more  important  additional  benefits  in  advancing-  medical 
science  and  saving  human  life  through  the  instrumentality  of 
our  medical  organizations,  and  the  methods  by  which  they  may 
be  accomplished. 

Every  experienced  and  intelligent  practitioner  of  the  healing 
art  is  familiar  with  the  fact  that  all  acute  general  diseases  are 
influenced  in  their  prevalence  and  severity  by  seasons  of  the 
year,  topographical  and  other  conditions  of  the  earth,  meteoro- 
logical conditions  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  social  conditions 
and  habits  of  the  people  themselves.  The  most  familiar  en- 
demics vary  annually  in  the  same  localities,  while  the  great  epi- 
demics that  have  for  ages  broken  over  the  comparatively  limited 
boundaries  of  their  habitats  only  at  intervals  of  years,  and  ex- 
tended their  ravages  from  country  to  country  and  receded  again 
to  the   source   from   which  they  apparently     originated,     differ 


66      COXNECTIOX  WITH  THE  NINTH  INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL  CONGRESS- 

widely  in  the  different  periods  of  their  prevalence.  But  in  study- 
ing the  essential  causes  of  any  one  of  these  general  diseases  and 
the  laws  and  conditions  under  which  such  cases  operate,  he- 
soon  finds  certain  factors,  essential  for  the  solution  of  his  prob- 
lems, wanting. 

For  instance,  if  he  wishes  to  identify  the  date  of  the  first 
attack  of  epidemic  cholera  in  a  given  locality  and  the  character 
of  bowel  aft'ections  immediately  preceding,  the  ordinary  statis- 
tics of  mortality  will  give  him  only  the  date  of  death,  which 
ma}-  have  been  from  one  to  seven  days  later,  or  it  may  have 
been  preceded  by  one  or  more  cases  that  recovered.  If  he  is 
anxious  to  determine  the  reason  why  the  disease,  on  entering 
one  community,  develops  with  such  rapidity  that  in  a  few  days 
its  victims  are  found  in  every  grade  of  the  population  and  in. 
almost  every  street,  while  in  another  it  develops  slowly,  adher- 
ing persistently  to  particular  classes  or  localities,  he  may  find 
in  the  ordinary  meteorological  records  the  thermometric,  barom- 
etric and  hygrometric  conditions  of  atmosphere,  with  the  direc- 
tion and  the  velocity  of  the  winds,  but  he  finds  nothing  regard- 
ing those  important  though  variable  elements  known  as  ozone 
and  hydrogen  peroxide,  active  oxidizers ;  or  those  nitrogenous 
products  called  free  and  albuminoid  ammonia.  Neither  do  the 
sanitary  records  give  the  desired  information  concerning  the 
composition  and  impregnations  of  the  soil,  or  of  the  organic  and 
inorganic  emanations  that  may  arise  therefrom. 

An  adequate  knowledge  of  these  absent  factors  relating  to- 
the  condition  of  the  earth,  air  and  water  over  districts  large 
enough  to  embrace  localities  subject  to  invasions  of  the  epi- 
demics and  others  known  to  be  exempt,  through  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  to  cover  several  periods  of  prevalence  and  periods 
of  absence  alike,  is  essential  for  enabling  us  to  comprehend  the 
causes  that  make  one  district  amenable  -to  the  prevalence  of 
a  disease  and  another  not,  as  well  as  the  marked  dift"erences  in 
the  severity  and  mode  of  progress  of  the  same  disease  at  differ- 
ent periods  in  the  same  localities  and  same  classes  of  the  people.- 
The  same  additional  knowledge  would  also  furnish  the  basis  for 
further  sanitary  measures  of  the  greatest  practical  value. 

And  yet  it  must  be  obvious  that  the  cooperation  of  numbers- 
of  medical  men  directly  engaged  in  the  field  of  general  practice, 
with  others  possessed  of  more  practical  facilities  for  chemical 
and  microscopical  research,  is  necessarv  for  successfully  prose- 
cuting:  such  coincident  and  continuous  investigations  as   would 


CONNECTION  WITH  TPIE  NINTH  INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  CONGRESS      67 

be  likely  to  secure  the  desired  results.  Only  well-trained  general 
practitioners  in  every  locality  chosen  for  observation  could  ob- 
serve and  record  the  date  of  the  initial  symptoms  of  acute  gen- 
eral disease  coming  under  their  notice,  and  at  stated  intervals 
collate  and  report  them  to  a  central  committee.  The  daily  ob- 
servations concerning  the  presence  and  relative  proportion  of 
active  oxidizers  and  of  nitrogenous  organic  elements  in  the 
atmosphere  and  the  water,  would  require  the  selection  of  one 
or  two  experts  in  chemical  and  microscopical  research  for  each 
locality;  all  making  their  observations  coincidently  in  time,  and 
by  uniform  methods. 

There  are  included  in  the  organized  medical  associations  of 
each  country  the  men  and  material  necessary  for  prosecuting 
every  well-defined  Hne  of  inquiry;  and  these  associations,  by 
their  stated  meetings  and  their  facilities  for  inter-communication 
and  concert  of  action,  present  the  entire  machinery  needed  and 
are  only  waiting  for  well  planned  and  systematic  use. 

The  tendency  to  make  the  permanent  medical  organizations 
available  for  prosecuting  work  in  the  directions  I  have  indicated 
has  already  been  manifested  to  a  limited  extent,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  formation  of  the  Collective  Investigation  Committee  of 
the  British  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  International  Collec- 
tive Investigation  Committee,  organized  during  the  sitting  of 
the  Eighth  International  Congress  at  Copenhagen. 

An  earlier  movement,  more  fully  of  the  character  I  have 
been  endeavoring  to  explain,  was  made  by  the  American  Medical 
Association  in  1875,  when  a  standing  committee  was  appointed 
to  establish  in  a  sufficient  number  of  localities  regular  coinci- 
dent daily  observations  and  records  concerning  all  appreciable 
meteorological  conditions,  including  organic  and  inorganic 
elements  found  in  the  atmosphere,  and  the  date  of  beginning  of 
acute  general  disease,  and  report  the  result  at  each  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  Association. 

The  committee  made  reports  embodying  facts  of  interest  and 
permanent  value  in  1877,  in  1879,  in  1881,  in  1882,  and  in  18S3. 
The  latter  report  contains,  among  other  items,  a  complete  tabu- 
lated statement  of  the  free  and  albuminoid  ammonia  in  the  at- 
mosphere for  every  day  in  the  year  ending  August  31,  1883,  as 
determined  for  the  committee  by  Prof.  J.  H.  Long  in  connec- 
tion with  the  laboratory  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  The 
committee  is  still  prosecuting  its  work,  with  material  in  hand  for 
a  still  more  important  report  at  an  early  day.       The     greatest 


68       CONNECTION  WITH  THE   NINTH   INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL   CONGRESS 

difficulty  encountered  has  been  to  enlist  a  sufficient  number  of 
active  practitioners  in  each  locality  who  would  faithfully  record 
the  desired  clinical  facts  and  report  the  results  to  the  committee. 
But  this  and  all  other  obstacles  can  be  overcome  by  persevering 
and  well-directed  work. 

I  trust  no  apology  is  needed  for  having  embraced  this  occa- 
sion to  attract  your  attention  to  the  very  important  question  of 
how  to  make  all  our  Medical  Associations  more  useful  in  pro- 
moting the  science  of  medicine  by  more  complete  methods  of 
investigation,  especially  in  directions  where  the  coincident  action 
of  several  persons  in  different  places  is  essential  for  success. 

I  fully  appreciate  the  great  benefit  resulting  from  the  simple 
mingling  of  a  large  number  of  medical  men  in  social  contact, 
where  each  is  made  to  hear  constantly  whether  on  the  street, 
in  the  hotel  or  the  assembly  room,  new  suggestions,  new  modes 
of  expression,  and  to  observe  the  physical  and  mental  effects 
of  the  various  habits  and  customs  of  the  different  peoples,  until 
each  one  leaves  the  general  gathering  with  largely  increased 
mental  activity  and  resources,  as  was  so  happily  expressed  by 
Sir  James  Paget  in  his  address  to  the  Congress  of  1881,  in 
London.  And  I  appreciate  in  a  still  higher  degree  the  benefits 
derived  from  the  preparation  and  reading  of  papers  by  indi- 
viduals and  the  discussion  of  important  questions,  in  all  our 
assemblies. 

But  for  reasons  I  have  already  briefly  stated,  I  hope  to  see 
added  in  every  permanent  general  medical  society  two  standing 
committees ;  one  to  whom  should  be  referred  for  critical  exam- 
ination every  communication  claiming  to  embody  a  new  dis- 
covery in  either  the  Science  or  Art  of  Aledicine ;  and  the  other 
should  be  charged  with  the  work  of  devising  such  lines  of  in- 
vestigation for  developing  additional  knowledge  as  require  the 
cooperation  of  different  individuals,  and  perhaps  societies,  and 
of  superintending  their  efficient  execution  until  crowned  with 
success. 

If  ten  or  twenty  per  cent  of  the  money  paid  for  initiation 
and  membership  dues  by  the  members  of  each  society  were  ap- 
propriated and  judiciously  expended  in  the  prosecution  of  such 
svstematic  and  continuous  investigations  from  year  to  year,  it 
would  accomplish  more  in  advancing  medical  science  directly, 
and  indirectly  in  benefiting  the  human  race,  than  ten  times  that 
amount  would  accomplish  if  expended  in  any  other  direction. 


CONNECTION  WITH  THE  NINTH  INTERNATIONAL   MEDICAL  CONGRESS      69 

For  it  must  be  remembered  that  when  money  is  expended 
for  material  objects,  even  for  food,  clothing  or  medicine,  such 
materials  feed,  clothe  or  relieve  but  one  set  of  needy  individuals, 
and  are  themselves  consumed ;  but  the  expenditure  of  money  and 
time  in  such  a  way  as  to  develop  a  new  fact  capable  of  practical 
application  either  in  preventing,  alleviating  or  curing  disease, 
that  fact  does  not,  like  the  food  or  medicine,  perish  with  the 
using,  but  it  becomes  literally  imperishable.  Neither  are  its 
benefits  limited  to  one  set  of  individuals,  but  it  is  transmitted 
with  the  speed  of  the  lightning,  over  the  land  and  under  the 
sea,  to  every  civilized  people ;  and  whatever  benefits  it  is  capable 
of  conferring  are -as  capable  of  being  applied  to  a  million  as  to 
one,  and  being  repeated  with  increasing  efficiency  from  genera- 
tion to  generation. 

It  has  been  tersely  and  correctly  stated  that  associated  ac- 
tion constitutes  the  characteristic  and  predominating  power  of 
the  age  in  which  we  live. 

It  is  by  association  that  education  in  its  broadest  sense,  re- 
ligion and  civilization,  have  been  more  rapidly  diffused  among 
the  masses  of  mankind  during  the  present  century,  than  during 
any  other  period  of  the  world's  history. 

It  is  by  the  association  of  capital,  wielded  by  the  associated 
intellects  of  the  nineteenth  century,  that  highways  of  commerce 
have  been  opened  over  the  valleys,  through  the  mountains,  across 
the  deserts,  and  on  the  oceans,  over  some  of  which  the  material 
productions  of  the  nations  are  borne  by  the  resistless  power  of 
steam,  and  along  others  the  products  of  mental  action  are  moved 
with  the  speed  of  electric  currents,  until  both  time  and  space  are 
so  far  nullified  that  the  most  distant  nations  have  become  neigh- 
bors, and  the  inhabitants  hold  daily  converse  with  each  other 
from  opposite  sides  of  the  globe. 

Indeed,  it  is  only  by  means  of  such  of  these  highways  as 
have  been  constructed  within  the  memory  of  him  who  addresses 
you,  that  you  have  been  gathered  in  this  hall  from  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  earth,  and  through  which  an  account  of  your  doings 
may  be  daily  transmitted  to  your  most  distant  homes. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  fact  that  the  profession  you  repre- 
sent has  taken  the  lead  of  all  other  professions  or  classes  of 
men,  in  rendering  available  these  grand  material  achievements 
of  the  age,  for  cultivating  fraternal  relations,  developing  and 
interchanging  knowledge  and  planning  concerted  action  for  ren- 


70       COXXECTIOX  WITH  THE  XIXTH  IXTERXATIOXAL   MEDICAL   COXGRESS 

dering-  human  life  everywhere  heaUhier,  happier,  and  of  longer 
duration. 

This  is  the  Ninth  International  Congress  in  the  regular  series, 
within  little  more  than  two  decades,  and  let  us  hope  that  all  its 
work  will  not  only  be  done  in  harmony  and  good  order,  but 
with  such  results  as  will  add  much  to  the  aggregate  of  human 
happiness  through  all  the  coming  generations. 

Without  trespassing  further  on  your  patience,  I  must  ask 
your  forbearance  with  my  own  imperfect  qualifications,  and  your 
generous  assistance-  in  the  discharge  of  the  responsible  duties 
you  have  devolved  upon  me. 

The  Congress  was  a  success  in  every  particular.  The  utmost  harmony 
prevailed,  and  it  was  altogether  an  occasion  to  gratify  the  pride  of  every 
American  physician  and  surgeon.  The  London  Lancet  of  Sept.  25th,. 
1887,  says :  "The  success  of  the  Xinth  International  Congress  is  a  matter 
for  thankfulness.  The  interruption  of  the  series  of  Congresses  would 
have  been  little  less  than  a  calamity  and  a  disgrace  for  the  profession  of 
all  nations."  But  the  Lancet  writer  could  not  let  up  without  "bleeding  " 
us  a  little,  and  so  he  adds :  "They'" — the  Americans — ''have  carried 
through  the  Congress,  and  we  thank  them.  There  is  yet  one  other  service 
they  can  do ;  in  an}-  official  action  that  now  de\-olves  upon  them,  to  strive 
to  obliterate  the  last  relics  of  discord,  and  to  stand  in  the  light  of  truth 
and  charity  undimmed  and  unqualified,  to  those  in  Berlin  on  whom  will 
now  rest  the  burden  of  responsibility  for  the  next  Congress." 

In  his  farewell  to  the  Congress,  President  Davis  closed  by  saying: 
"Life  with  me  is  not  long,  but  if  it  is  spared  with  sufficient  health,  I  shall 
take  great  satisfaction  in  meeting  my  friend  Dr.  ]\Iartin,  and  all  his  com- 
rades in  Berlin  in  1890." 

But  when  1890  came,  the  undertaking  seemed  too  great  in  view  of 
his  advancing  years,  and  the  foreign  members  of  the  'Congress  of  1887 
saw  his  face  no  more. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  "Jubilee"  Meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

The  forty-eighth  annual  meeting-  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
was  held  in  Philadelphia,  June  ist,  2d,  3d  and.  4th,  1897,  just  fifty  years 
after  the  Medical  Convention,  which  met  in  Philadelphia  May  5th,  1847, 
"resolved  itself  into  the  American  Medical  Association."  Of  course  this 
meeting  of  June,  1897,  should  have  been  the  fiftieth  annual  session,  in- 
stead of  the  forty-eighth,  but  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state  of  the  coun- 
try incident  to  the  civil  war,  the  meetings  which  would  otherwise  have 
occurred  in  1861  and  1862  were  omitted;  consequently  the  forty-eighth 
meeting  occurred  on  the  -fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Associa- 
tion, an  anachronism  that  is  a  little  confusing,  until  its  cause  is  understood. 

In  the  Association  Journal  of  May  16,  1896,  the  following  editorial 
note  occurs:  "The  47th  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  should  be  mark- 
ed with  a  white  stone,  as  one  of  its  Dies  Memorahilcs." 

And  such  it  proved  to  be ! 

At  the  47th  annual  meeting,  held  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  5,  6,  7  and  8, 
1896,  Dr.  John  B.  Roberts,  Chairman  of  the  Delegation  from  the  Phila- 
delphia County  Medical  Society,  presented  the  following:  "At  a  meeting 
of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society,  held  April  15th,  the  follow- 
ing preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted :  Whereas,  The  American 
Medical  Association  completed  its  organization  and  commenced  its  actual 
existence  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  during  the  first  week  of  May,  1847; 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  publicly  urge 
that  the  Association  celebrate  in  1897  its  Fiftieth  Annual  Meeting  with 
ceremonies  appropriate  to  its  long  and  successful  career ; 

"Resolved,  That  the  delegates  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical 
Society  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  at  Atlanta,  be 
instructed  to  extend  to  the  Association  a  cordial  invitation  to  hold  its 
semi-centennial  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  the  city  of  its  birth." 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Reed,  "the  resolutions  were  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Nominations,"  but,  so  far  as  the  official  report  of  the  proceedings 
show,  said  committee  made  no  recommendation  in  the  matter.  Yet  there 
must  have  been  a  "Committee  on  Anniversary  Exercises"  appointed  at  this 
meeting,  inasmuch  as  Dr.  John  B.  Roberts  appears  as  chairman  of  such 
committee,  as  we  shall  see  presently. 


^2  THE       JUEILEE       ^[EETIXG 

The  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  which  was  held 
in  Philadelphia  June  ist,  2d,  3d  and  4th,  1897,  Vv^as  called  the  "Jubilee 
Meeting,"'  and  such  indeed  it  was.  In  more  dignified  but  less  inspiring 
phrase,  it  was  called  the  "Semi-Centennial,"  but  from  start  to  finish,  it 
was  an  occasion  long  to  be  remembered,  and  one  never  to  be  duplicated. 
Dr.  Nicholas  Senn  was  President,  "whose  skill" — says  the  Journal — "as 
a  presiding  officer  was  manifest  from  the  first  hour."  The  attendance  was 
the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  Association,  or  as  the  Journal  says,  "it 
not  only  surpassed  all  previous  meetings  in  number  of  members  present, 
but  in  tout  ensemble."  Many  of  the  older  men  were  there,  attracted  thither 
by  the  expectation  of  a  historic  and  epoch-making  meeting!  Love,  of  Mis- 
sauri :  Garcelon,  of  Maine ;  Maclean,  of  IMichigan ;  Holton,  of  Vermont ; 
Didama.  of  New  York ;  Marcy,  of  Massachusetts ;  Conn,  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  Reed,  of  Ohio ;  Davis,  Hamilton  and  Graham,  of  Illinois ;  Quimby, 
of  New  Jersey ;  Atkinson  and  Roberts,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Reyburn,  of  the 
District  of  Columbia;  Sternberg,  Surgeon  General  of  the  Arm}-,  and 
Gihon,  Surgeon  General  of  the  Navy;  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  eminent 
members  of  our  profession  who  gathered  on  that  occasion,  both  to  honor  it 
and  themselves.  Since  that  meeting,  the  "Reaper  whose  name  is  death" 
has  been  busy,  and  very  many  of  the  older  men  have  answered  the  sum- 
mons to  "go  up  higher." 

The  first  "General  Session"  was  held  on  Tuesday,  June  ist,  in  the 
stately  Academy  of  j\Iusic,  and  was  mainly  given  up  to  the  purely  business 
matters  of  the  Association. 

The  second  "General  Session,"  on  Wednesday,  June  2d,  was  made 
interesting  and  memorable  by  the  fact  that  the  lamented  President  of  the 
United  States,  William  McKinley — so  soon  to  complete  our  noble  trio  of 
M^artyred  Presidents — was  there  and  made  one  of  his  short  but  dignified 
and  characteristic  speeches  from  which  I  extract  the  following:  "Although 
summoned  to  the  city  for  another  purpose,  I  deem  myself  most  fortunate  to 
find  this  honorable  Association  in  its  semi-centennial  meeting  on  the  same 
day.  ...  I  cannot  refrain  from  pausing  a  moment  that  I  might  come 
into  this  brilliant  presence,  to  meet  the  learned  gentlemen  here  assembled, 
and  to  pay  my  homage  to  the  noble  profession  which  you  so  worthily  rep- 
resent." The  President  having  retired  there  were  loud  calls  for  Governor 
Hastings,  who  delivered  an  excellent  and  eloquent  address,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  "loud  and  prolonged  applause." 

And  then  the  Association  settled  down  to  business  again,  and  thus 
passed  into  history  one  of  the  eventful  days  in  the  history  of  the  American 
Medical  Association. 

But  Thursday,  June  3d,   1897,  was  perhaps  the  most  memorable  day 


THE  '"jubilee     meeting  73 

in  the  history  of  the  Association..  The  "Third  General  Session"  was  held 
on  this  day,  and  its  chief  event  can  never  be  duplicated.  It  was  the  occa- 
sion of  the  "Jubilee  Exercises  ;  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Found- 
ing OF  the  American  Medical  Association/''  says  the  official  report,  in 
"small  caps."  The  Academy  of  Music  was  crowded  with  a  brilliant  audi- 
ence, composed  of  delegates,  prominent  members,  and  other  medical  men, 
drawn  thither  by  the  unusual  importance  of  the  occasion.  Many  of  the 
laity,  comprising'  the  prominent  citizens  of  Philadelphia  and  other  cities 
were  there.  A  large  number  of  w^omen,  mostly  vsdves  or  relatives  of  mem- 
bers in  attendance,  were  there,  and  as  one  stood  on  the  stage  and  looked 
over  the  vast  audience,  it  was  a  brilliant  and  inspiring  scene.  But  in  all 
that  great  company,  there  was  but  one  who  was  present  when  the  Asso- 
ciation commenced  its  existence,  fifty  years  before,  and  he  was  the  honored 
guest  of  the  hour.  Only  four  of  the  original  members  of  the  Association 
were  then  living,  namely,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  of  Illinois,  an  ex- President ;  Dr. 
Alfred  Stille,  of  Pennsylvania,  also  an  ex-President;  Dr.  John  B.  John- 
son, of  Missouri,  an  ex-Vice  President;  and  Dr.  David  F.  Atwater,  of 
Massachusetts.  Dr.  Stille,  although  residing  in  Philadelphia,  was  not  able 
to  be  present,  and  Drs.  Johnson  and  Atwater  were  also  unable  to  take  the 
long  journey  to  Philadelphia  but  sent  interesting  letters,  which  were  read. 
"The  hour  set  for  the  Jubilee  Exercises  having  arrived"  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  the  founder  of  the  Association,  appeared  upon  the  stage,  escorted  by 
the  Presidents  of  the  State  Medical  Societies  and  the  Presidents  of  State 
Boards  of  Medical  Examiners.  Dr.  Davis  was  presented  to  President 
Senn  by  Dr.  John  B.  Roberts,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Anniversary 
Exercises,  who  said : 

"  'Some  fifty-two  years  ago,  at  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  State  Medi- 
cal Society,  there  appeared  for  the  first  time  a  young  delegate  from  Broome 
County.  Observation  during  his  collegiate  course  had  opened  his  eyes  to 
the  fact  that  there  were  radical  defects  in  the  methods  of  medical  educa- 
tion. To  remedy  these  evils  and  to  organize  the  profession  of  the  United 
States  into  a  professional  brotherhood,  with  a  common  purpose,  a  common 
dignity,  a  common  ethical  standard  and  a  common  humanity,  he  deter- 
mined to  use  all  the  vigor  which  he  possessed.  It  was  his  desire  to  separate 
medical  teaching  from  medical  licensing,  and  to  organize  the  profession  in 
connection  with  a  central  medical  body.  That  his  labors,  despite  much  oppo- 
sition, have  been  crowned  with  success,  is  shown  by  the  existence  of  a  Med- 
ical Examining  Board  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  State  Medi- 
cal Societies  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  presence  of  these  gentle- 
men who  accompany  him  to-day,  and  the  registration  of  2,000  delegates  and 


;74  'i'HE      JUBILEE       MEETING 

members  attest  the  approval  given  to  the  efforts  of  the  ever-young  man 
whom  I  now  present  to  you.'     (Applause.) 

''At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Roberts'  remarks,  Dr.  Davis  arose  and  was 
greeted  with  round  after  round  of  applause,  which  continued  for  fully 
three  minutes.    As  soon  as  quiet  was  restored,  President  Senn  said : 

"  'Dr.  Davis,  in  the  name  of  nine  thousand  members  of  the  Association 
I  greet  you  and  congratulate  you  that  you  have  been  permitted  to  live  long- 
enough  to  witness  the  commemoration  exercises  of  your  life  work,  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  your  favorite  child — the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation. May  you  live  long,  and  when  the  inevitable  comes,  find  a  peace- 
ful end  and  an  ample  reward  in  the  life  to  come.'     (Applause.) 

"Dr.  Davis  then  delivered  his  address,  selecting-  for  his  subject,  'A. 
-Brief  History  of  the  Origin  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the 
Principles  on  which  it  -was  Organized,  the  Objects  it  was  Designated  to 
Accomplish,  and  How  Far  They  Have  been  Attained  During  the  Half 
Century  of  its  Existence.'  "* 

And  such  is  the  cold  and  colorless  official  account  of  the  Jubilee  ]\Ieet- 
ing  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  an  event  of  more  than  passive 
importance,  not  only  to  the  medical  profession  of  the  United  States,  but  of 
the  civilized  world.  The  Association  was  half  a  century  old ;  it  had  grown 
from  a  feeble  beginning  to  a  membership  of  about  9,000 ;  it  had  exercised 
an  influence  for  good  on  medical  education,  medical  legislation  and  medical 
progress  generally,  of  incalculable  value,  an  influence  which  was  and  is  in- 
creasing with  every  passing  year.  And  flow,  on  the  third  of  June,  1897, 
about  two  thousand  members  and  delegates,  together  with  a  liberal  sprink- 
ling of  non-professional  men  and  women,  had  gathered  in  the  self-same  city 
where  the  Association  was  born,  to  celebrate  its  fiftieth  birthday,  and  to 
-do  well  merited  honor  to  its  venerable  and  illustrious  founder.  It  was  a 
scene  and  an  event  to  stir  the  blood  and  warm  the  heart  of  an  anchorite. 
It  was  not  a  meeting  of  the  Judicial  Council,  or  of  the  Section  on  State  Med- 
icine ;  it  was  the  Jubilee  Meeting  of  the  largest  medical  organization  in  the 
world,  and  its  founder  was  there  to  rejoice  with. the  numerous  membership 
of  the  institution  of  which  he  had  been  the  fons  et  origo,  and  the  chief 
inspiration,  for  these  many  years. 

An  editorial  touch  in  the  Journal  of  June  12th,  following  the  Jubilee, 
i:hrows  a  little  color  into  the  picture:  "The  jubilee  exercises  were  impres- 
sive. The  venerable  founder  of  the  As.sociation,  Professor  Nathan  S. 
Davis,  accompanied  by  his  colleague.  Professor  Alfred  Stille,**  was  es- 


*  Journal  Am.  Med.  Ass'n.,  June  12,  1897. 

**Dr.  John  B.  Roberts,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Anniversary  Exercises, 
""regretted  that  Dr.  Stille  was  not  present." 


THE  "jubilee"  meeting  75 

corted  to  the  stage  between  a  double  line  of  ex-presidents  of  the  Associa- 
tion, who  were  standing-  in  open  order.  The  escort  consisted  of  the 
Presidents  of  State  Medical  Societies,  and  Presidents  of  State  Boards  of 
Examiners.  President  Senn  then  welcomed  him  in  a  few  well-chosen 
words,  the  delegates  in  the  hall  rose  and  cheered  until  they  were  stilled, 
when  Professor  Davis  delivered  the  historical  reminiscences  which  we  else- 
where publish.  No  one  present  will  ever  forget  it.  The  orator  read  with  his 
old  time  earnestness,  and  with  a  clear  voice  that  time  has  scarcely  impaired ; 
and  the  pride  and  affection  that  the  Association  has  for  our  venerable  col- 
league was  manifested  again,  when  he  closed,  by  vehement  and  enthusiastic 
applause." 

As  Dr.  Davis  slowly  advanced  towards  the  footlights,  between  the 
lines  of  ex-presidents,  what  was  the  drift  of  his  thoughts,  and  what  the 
nature  of  his  reflections?  Certainly  he  indulged  in  no  vainglorious  pride, 
nor  was  he  possessed  by  an  unseemly  egotism;  but  the  "feeling  of  satisfac- 
tion and  thankfulness  that  came  to  him  as  he  contemplated  the  vast  and 
beneficent  result  of  his  work,  can  be  easily  imagined  by  those  who  knew 
the  man  and  his  great  human  heart. 

As  in  an  early  chapter  we  have  recounted  the  history  of  the  origin 
of  the  American  Medical  dissociation  in  detail,  we  omit  the  jubilee  address 
of  Dr.  Davis,  except  its  closing  paragraph  which  says  that  "Every  leading 
object  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  its"  (the  Association's)  "founders 
has  been  substantially  obtained:  That  is,  universal  free  and  friendly  social 
and  professional  intercourse  has  been  established ;  the  advancement  of  medi- 
cal science  and  literature  in  all  their  relations  has  been  promoted;  and  the 
long  agitated  subject  of  medical  education  has  reached  the  solid  basis  of 
a  fair  academic  education  as  preparatory,  four  years  of  medical  study, 
attendance  on  four  annual  courses  of  graded  medical  college  instruction,  of 
from  six  to  nine  months  each,  and  licenses  to  practice  to  be  granted  only 
by  State  Boards  of  Medical  Examiners.  The  grand  citadel  of  our 
noble  profession  has  thus  been  constructed  on  its  legitimate  foundations,  and 
it  only  remains  for  those  who  come  after  us  to  perfect  its  several  parts, 
and  make  them  more  and  more  efficient  in  preventing  human  suftering  and 
prolonging  human  life." 

On  the  last  day  of  the  memorable  session  of  1897,  Dr.  Davis  uttered 
a  few  last  words  which  will  be  read  with  a  kind  of  sad  pleasure  by  those 
of  us  who  remember  and  survive  him:  "I  am  not  quite  willing  to  let  this 
occasion  pass  without  a  word.  The  first  convention  I  went  to,  to  help 
form  the  Association,  was  by  the  old  stage  coach,  and  it  took  longer  to  go 
over  the  hills  of  Pennsylvania,  in  and  around  the  corners  of  it,  to  get  from 
the  village  of  Binghamton  and  the  Susquehanna  and  the  Chenango  Rivers 


76  THE  "jubilee"''  meeting 

to  Xew  York  City,  than  it  does  to  go  from  Chicago  to  San  Francisco.  I 
mention  this  to  show  you  that  the  world  has  progressed.  I  have  followed 
the  meetings  of  the  Association  with  the  utmost  interest  and  with  the 
greatest  possible  pleasure,  from  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill  ^Monument  to  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  from  ^Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  of  ]\Iexico,  round  and  round. 
These  meetings,  and  the  meetings  of  our  State  Society  have  been  my  pleas- 
ure excursions :  they  have  been  the  only  vacations  I  have  ever  taken." 
(Applause.')  "They  are  vacations  that  bring  me  in  touch  with  my  brethren 
from  every  quarter,  and  enable  us  to  stir  each  other  up  by  thoughts,  by  con- 
tact of  mind  with  mind,  man  with  man,  and  woman  with  man  if  you  please." 
(Applause.)  'Tt  gives  us  an  elevation,  infuses  a  buoyancy  that  lifts  us 
out  of  our  ruts  at  home.  When  we  return  to  our  homes  and  resume  our 
practice,  we  do  so  with  fresh  vigor,  with  greater  confidence."  (Loud  ap- 
plause.) 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  remarks,  three  hearty  cheers  were  proposed 
and  given  to  Dr.  Davis  and  the  American  Medical  Association.  And  in 
this  happy  and  jubilant  frame  of  mind,  did  the  speaker — now  eighty  years 
old — say  iiltiina  vale  to  his  lusty  offspring,  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation . 


CHAPTER  X. 

Dr.    Davis'    Temperance    Work,    Public    and    Professional. 

From  his  earliest  to  his  last  days,  Dr.  Davis  was  a  total  abstainer  from 
all  forms  of  alcoholic  beverages.  It  is  a  historic  fact,  which  I  have  upon 
the  excellent  authority  of  Mrs.  Davis,  who  still  (August,  1907J  survives  him, 
that  he  never  tasted  an  alcoholic  beverage  in  all  his  life.  During  all  the 
years  of  his  long  and  remarkable  career,  he  was  an  active  vv'orker  in  the 
temperance  cause,  and  no  one  will  ever  know  how  many  men  he  saved 
from  that  terrible  fate,  the  death  of  the  drunkard.  His  hatred  of  alcohol 
was  so  intense,  that  he  was  often  called  a  "temperance  crank,"  a  "fanatic,"" 
a  "faddist,"  and  various  other  names  which  were  intended  to  be  opprobious, 
but  were  in  the  highest  degree  complimentary. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  Dr.  Davis"  early  days,  the  use  of  alco- 
holic beverages  was  rather  more  common  than  the  use  of  "acjua  pura ;"" 
nor  was  it  regarded  as  improper  or  specially  harmful.  The  minister,  the 
lawyer  and  the  doctor,  each  took  his  "toddy,"'  without  any  idea  of  its 
impropriety,  and  in  the  country  stores,  rum  was  sold  as  openly  as,  and  rather 
more  frequently  than,  "lamp  oil"  or  molasses.  When  the  merchant  made 
out  his  vearly  bill  against  his  customers — professional  men  included — the 
item  ''one  gallon  of  rum"  occurred  about  as  often  as  any  other  item,  and 
the  farmer  generally  needed  an  extra  ten  gallons  to  "get  through  haying." 

It  was  several  years  after  Dr.  Davis  had  been  a  married  man,  or  rather 
bov,  and  had  graduated  in  medicine  and  become  a  legal  voter,  before  the 
temperance  cause  had  acquired  sufficient  momentum  to  be  respected  or 
even  felt.  In  those  days  it  took  some  back-bone  for  a  young  man  to  allow 
himself  to  be  known  as  a  "teetotaller,"  as  the  early  temperance  advocates 
were  contemptuously  called,  but  our  young  doctor,  standing  almost  alone, 
swerved  not  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  principle  of  absolute  and  uncompro- 
mising abstinence. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  his  medical  practice  to  his  last  days,  he 
absolutely  prohibited  the  use  of  alcohol  as  a  therapeutic  agent.  And  not 
onlv  that,  but  he  talked  against  it  to  his  patients,  argued  against  it  before 
various  medical  societies  and  in  his  more  public  and  popular  addresses,  and 
wrote  against  it  in  medical  and  secular  periodicals  far  and  wide.  It  would 
be  impossible  at  this  day,  to  gather  all  of  Dr.  Davis'  essays  and  addresses 
against  the  use  of  alcohol  in  an}'  fcrm,  either  as  a  beverage  or  as  a  cura- 


y8  DR.    DAVIS'    TEMPERANCE   WORK 

tive  agent,  but  if  this  could  be  done,  the  collection  would  be  about  as  for- 
midable an  array  of  anti-alcoholic  literature  as  could,  be  desired.  Nor 
must  it  be  forgotten  that  as  long  ago  as  he  began  practice,  and  in 
fact  down  to  quite  recent  times,  the  use  of  alcohol  in  medical  and  surgical 
practice  was  not  only  very  common,  but  its  use  was,  by  the  majority  of 
physicians,  regarded  as  indispensable.  But  a  change  has  come  over  the 
practitioner  of  to-day,  and  the  use  of  alcohol  in  medical  practice  is  im- 
mensely less  common  than  it  Vv'as  a  couple  of  decades  ago.  It  is  no  more 
than  fair,  no  more  than  just,  to  attribute  this  change  in  no  small  degree, 
to  the  ceaseless  and  persistent  hammering  of  Dr.  Davis  on  his  temperance 
anvil,  for  a  full  half-century. 

\Mien  he  came  to  Chicago  in  October,  1849,  ^'^^  brought  his  temperance 
principles  with  him,  and  they  certainly  seemed  to  thrive  in  the  uncongenial 
atmosphere  of  this  then  frontier  city,  with  its  cloud  of  frontier  vices.  Of 
course  he  preached  temperance  to  the  students  of  Rush  Medical  College, 
and  later  to  the  students  of  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  on  Christmas, 
1854.  we  find  him  delivering  to  the  students  of  Rush  College  a  "Lecture 
on  the  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  the  Human  System,  and  the  Duties 
of  Medical  Men  in  Relation  Thereto."  A  little  later  he  delivered  and 
published  a  lecture  descriptive  of  some  original  experiments  in  relation  to 
the  eft'ects  of  alcohol  on  respiration  and  animal  heat. 

But  probably  Dr.  Davis'  most  effective  and  telling"  temperance  work 
in  Chicago  was  done  during  his  active  connection  with  the  Washingtonian 
Home  of  that  city.  It  has  been  stated  again  and  again  that  he  was  "one 
of  the  founders"  of  the  institution  in  question,  and  this  statement  comes 
pretty  near  being  true. 

The  first  movement  towards  the  foundation  of  the  home  was  due  to 
J\Ir.  Rolla  A.  Law,  a  well  known  Chicagoan  of  forty  years  ago,  a  member 
and  an  officer  of  the  "Good  Templars"  (an  aggressive  temperance  organi- 
zation) and  an  uncompromising  temperance  war  horse.  On  October  ist, 
1863,  ^Ir.  Law  called  a  meeting  of  lialf  a  dozen  well  known  temperance 
advocates  for  the  purpose  of  forming  an  organization  looking  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  refuge  for  inebriates,  and  the  adoption  of  measures  for  their 
reformation.  Four  subsequent  meetings  were  held,  a  constitution  and  by- 
laws were  drafted  by  a  committee,  and  adopted,  but  according  to  the  records 
of  the  Secretary,  Dr.  Davis  was  not  present  at  any  of  these  meetings.  At 
a  meeting  held  January  21st,  1864,  at  the  Association's  first  "Home,"  547 
State  street,  Chicago,  the  first  Board  of  Directors  was  elected,  and  Dr. 
Davis  was  one  of  the  number.  In  this  instance,  as  in  several  other  similar 
instances,  I  have  tried  to  be  accurate  about  facts  and  dates,  because  too 
manv  loose  statements  have  been  made  bv  various  enthusiastic  eulogists, 


DR.    DAVIS'    TEMPERANCE   WORK  79 

concerning-  Dr.  Davis'  agency  in  "founding"  this,  that  and  the  other  in- 
stitution, to  which  he  has  rendered  years  of  invakiable  service,  without, 
]iowever,  being  entitled  to  the  claim  of  founder.  But  from  the  time  of  his 
election  as  Trustee  in  1864,  to  his  retirement  in  1881,  a  period  of  seventeen 
years,  he  was  unwearied  in  his  labors  for  the  advancement  of  the  interests 
of  the  Home,  and  the  permanent  moral  uplifting  of  its  inmates.  He  did 
not  believe  in  the  cure  of  inebriety  by  drugging  its  victims  with  antidotes 
or  substitutes  or  "cure  alls"  of  any  kind;  but  he  insisted  upon  the  import- 
ance of  arousing\the  self-respect  and  awakening  the  latent  will-power  of 
the  unfortunates,  so  that  they  could  resist  the  seductive  influences  of  drink, 
and  return  to  their  vocations  and  their  families. 

In  the  management  of  the  Washingtonian  Home,  owing  partly  to  his 
professional  position,  but  perhaps  more  to  his  unquestioned  ability,  Dr. 
Davis  very  soon  came  to  be  the  leading  spirit  in  the  Board  of  Directors. 
He,  more  than  any  other  man,  mapped  out  the  policy  of  the  institution  in 
regard  to  the  treatment  of  alcoholism,  a  subject  which  he  had  studied,  and 
continued  to  study,  with  great  care. 

It  is  perhaps  a  fair  and  just  statement  to  say  that  Dr.  Davis  came  to 
he  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  equipped  men  in  the  country  in  regard  to 
the  treatment,  or  more  properly  the  curative  management  of  inebriety.  He 
was  Chairman  of  the  first  Finance  Committee  of  the  Washingtonian  tlome 
Association;  he  was  also  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  from  .1865 
to  1 88 1.  During  all  these  years,  he  was  almost  invariably  present  at  the 
stated  meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee,  no  matter  how  inclement  the 
weather,  or  how  crowded  he  might  be  with  professional  cares.  As  one 
looks  over  the  early  records  of  the  Washingtonian  Home,  one  is  amazed 
at  the  constancy  of  his  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, as  well  as  the  meetings  of  special  committees  which  were  frequently 
required  for  special  duties,  and  of  which  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis"  was  pretty  sure 
to  be  a  member. 

During  his  connection  with  the  Washingtonian  Home,  he  watched  that 
institution  grow  from  a  small  and  feeble  beginning  into  a  strong  cor- 
poration, with  every  element  of  permanency ;  he  saw  it  housed  in  its  pres- 
>ent  large  and  commodious  building;  he  saw  its  "daughter"  the  Martha 
Washington  Home,  successfully  launched,  and  started  on  its  career  of 
usefulness,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  to  his  untiring- 
labors,  the  success  of  these  kindred  enterprises  were  largely  due.  While 
it  is  true  that  the  doctor  retired  from  active  service  in  the  Home  in  1881, 
it  is  also  true  that  his  interest  in  the  institution  never  lessened,  and  that 
his  memory  is  cherished  by  his  former  colleagues  with  profound  respect 
and  affection. 


8o  DR.    DAVIs'    TEMPERANCE    WORK 

But  his  services  to  the  cause  of  temperance  were  by  no  means  hmited 
to  the  Washingtonian  Home,  or  to  Chicago.  Lectures  before  various  bodies ; 
articles  for  the  secular  press,  and  for  medical  periodicals;  essays  for  jour- 
nals especially  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  temperance  from 
a  scientific  standpoint,  besides  the  constant  hammering  on  the  subject,  as 
occasions  presented  themselves  in  his  daily  contact  with  patients  and  others ; 
and  when  we  remember  that  he  began  this  sort  of  Avork  in  his  youth,  and 
never  ceased  it  until  he  ceased  to  live,  we  can  form  some  adequate  opinion 
of  the  amount  and  value  of  his  labors  in  a  cause  that  was  exceedingly  un- 
popular when  he  espoused  it,  but  which  had  gained  a  powerful  hold  on 
the  public  mind  before  age  and  infirmity  compelled  him  to  "cease  at  once 
to  labor  and  to  live." 

It  is  well  known  to  all  medical  men,  and  to  a  great  many  of  the  laity. 
that  Dr.  Davis  was  regarded  as  the  father  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciatiou,  perhaps-  the  most  powerful  and  influential  medical  organization  iu 
the  world.  Of  course  his  influence  in  this  Association  was  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  individual,  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  he  never 
missed  an  opportunity  to  urge  his  temperance  doctrines  upon  this  august 
bod}^  Especially  did  he  enforce  his  views  as  to  the  value — or  rather 
harmfulness — of  alcohol  as  a  remedy  for  the  treatment  of  disease  in  any 
form.  In  fact,  he  took  the  positive  and  rather  radical  ground  that,  under  no 
circumstances,  could  alcoholic  stimulants  be  regarded  as  necessary  or 
even  useful,  while  there  were  plenty  of  other  remedies  more  reliable,  and 
less  harmful.  The  doctor  presented  several  papers  to  the  American  Alcdical 
Association  enforcing  his  views,  all  of  which  are  published  in  official  re- 
ports of  the  "Transactiojis"  of  the  Association,  and  are  catalogued  in  a  later 
chapter  of  this  present  work.  He  also  presented  various  papers,  based  upou 
carefully  conducted  experiments,  before  medical  societies  or  other  scien- 
tific bodies  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  all  converging  on  the  single 
point  of  the  absolutely  toxic  efliects  of  alcohol,  whether  as  a  beverage  or  as 
a  medicine. 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  great  majority  of  physicians  and  sur- 
geons thought,  and  still  think,  that  Dr.  Davis  went  altogether  too  far  in  his 
condemnation  of  both  fermented  and  distilled  liquors  in  the  treatment  of 
certain  diseases,  and  especiallv  in  certain  grave  medical  and  surgical  emer- 
gencies, where  alcoholic  stimulants  seem  absolutely  indispensable.  But 
in  conclusion  I  think  it  quite  within  the  bounds  of  truth  to  say  that  the 
use  of  alcohol,  in  the  treatment  even  of  "emergency"  cases,  has  become 
much  less  frequent  than  it  was  a  couple  of  decades  ago ;  that  it  is  gradually 
becoming  less  frequent  as  time  goes  on  ;  that  the  older  stimulants  are  better 
understood  and  new  ones  are  being  discovered  ;  and  that  to  the  persistent 


DR.    DAVIS'    TEMri!:RAXCE    WORK  8l 

teachings  of  Dr.  Davis,  and  especiall}'  his  positive  and  fearless  position  in 
regard  to  the  therapeutic  value  of  alcohol,  before  the  various  scientific 
bodies  which  he  addressed,  and  to  his  voluminous  writings  pointing  in  the 
same  direction,  must  very  much  of  this  salutary  change  be  attributed.  It 
should  be  said  that  alcohol  is  no  longer  classed  as  a  stimulant  b^  writers 
upon  Pharmacology,  but  rather  with  ether  and  chloroform  as  an  anaesthetic. 
By  way  of  securing  a  favorable  hearing  for  his  views,  and  of  assuring 
their  perpetuation  among  medical  men,  he  aroused  the  movement  which  re- 
sulted in  the  organization  of  the  "American  Medical  Temperance  Associa- 
tion" in  1890,  and  at  the  meeting  in  Detroit  in  June,  1892,  he  delivered  an 
address  on  the  "Objects  of  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Association," 
in  which  the  work  of  the  Association  was  admirablv  set  forth. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Literary  and  Journalistic  Work. 

Dr.  Davis  certainly  wielded  the.  "pen  of  a  ready  v/riter,"  but  a  readr 
writer,  like  a  "ready"  speaker,  is  apt  to  turn  off  much  ephemeral,  and  per- 
haps some  ill-digested  work.  But  when  we  consider  the  voluminous  prod- 
uct of  Dr.  Davis'  pen,  we  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  his  writings 
show  a  degree  of  care,  thoughtfulness  and  accuracy  that  are  remarkable. 

In  another  chapter  of  this  work  is  printed  a  "list  comprising  the  more 
important  essays,  addresses,  reports  and  volumes,  written  on  professional,, 
scientific  or  educational  subjects,"  and  published  in  various  periodicals  or 
else  in  the  form  of  separate  volumes,  by  Dr.  Davis,  commencing  in  1840,  and' 
ending  in  1904,  shortly  before  his  death.  This  list*  rounds  up  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  titles,  including  papers  and  addresses  for  special  occasions,, 
articles  for  various  periodicals,  and  separate  and  independent  volumes. 

As  one  looks  over  this  list,  two  or  three  things  attract  particular  at- 
tention :  first,  the  comprehensive  and  formidable  titles  that  the  author  gave 
to  his  papers,  amounting  in  many  cases  to  almost  a  synopsis  of  the  paper  it- 
self;  second,  the  severely  practical  nature  of  nearly  all  the  papers,  and  the 
absolute  absence  of  guess-work  where  facts  were  obtainable ;  third,  the  sim- 
plicity and  directness  of  the  writer's  language,  every  paper  being  written. 
in  clear,  concise  English,  without  bombast,  redundancy,  or  the  everlasting 
egotism  which  defaces  the  writings  of  so  many  of  us ;  fourth,  the  large 
proportion  of  papers  which  are  reports  of,  or  are  based  upon,  the  original 
experimental  work  of  the  author,  when  the  facilities  for  such  work  were  sO' 
crude  and  meagre. 

Taken  as  a  whole  the  writings  of  Dr.  Davis  will  compare  favorably 
with  those  of  any  other  American  medical  writer,  although,  of  course,  many 
of  his  papers  and  addresses  had  relation  to  only  a  certain  occasion  of  a 
local  or  temporary  nature,  and  therefore  had  only  a  transient  and  ephemeral 
value;  but  such  is  the  fate  of  most  of  the  productions  of  every  public, 
speaker.    It  is  the  penalty  a  popular  orator  pays  for  being  2l  popular  orator.. 

Between  the  years  1848  and  1890,  Dr.  Davis  was  editor  of  the  eight 
periodicals  named  below,  but,  of  course,  he  served  only  a  few  years  with 
each  one: 


*Vide,   chapter  XII. 


LITERARY   AND   JOURNALISTIC   WORK  83 

•I.     The  Annalist,  a  medical  journal  published  in  New  York; 

2.  North  Western  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  published  in  Chicago  ; 

3.  Eclectic  Journal  of  Education  and  JJtcrary  RcMezu,  also  pulilished 
in  Chicago ; 

4.  Chicago  Medical  Journal; 

5.  Chicago  Medical  Examiner; 

6.  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association; 

7.  American  Medical  Temperance  Quarterly; 

8.  Bulletin  of  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Association 
Besides  having  editorial  charge  and  writing  editorials  for  the  periodical 

he  happened  to  be  editing  at  the  time,  he  contributed     largely  to   other 
periodicals  upon  various  medical,  temperance  and  cognate  subjects. 

His  first  editorial  experience  was  on  the  "Annalist/'  in  1848.  This 
seems  to  have  been  rather  a  short-lived  medical  periodical,  published  in 
New  York.  His  last  editorial  labors  were  upon  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  whereof  he  vv'as  the  first  editor  and  therefore,  in  a 
certain  sense,  the  founder.  Thus  he  was  nearly  forty  years  in  editorial  work, 
with  here  and  there  a  brief  interval  of  leisure. 

He  blossomed  out  as  an  author  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-one,  his 
first  publication  being  a  work  on  agriculture.  It  has  long  been  out  of  prinf , 
and  is  of  course  very  hard  to  obtain,  but  the  present  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  has 
kindly  loaned  me  his  copy,  which  is  now  before  me.  It  is  a  curiosity  in- 
deed. Its  external  appearance  reminds  one  of  the  common  school  text- 
books of  fifty  years  ago,  with  their  blue  pasteboard  covers  and  indifferent 
binding.     The  title  page  reads  as  follows : 

"A  Text  Book  on  Agriculture,  by  N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.— 'Mater 
omnium  Artium,  est  Scientia.'  New  York :  Samuel  S.  &  AA'il- 
liam  Wood,  1848." 

The  preface  is  dated  "New  York,  August  i,  1847." 

The  author  was  led  to  write  this  book  as  the  result  of  a  report  of  the 
"Committee  on  Agricultural  Schools,"  in  the  New.  York  Legislature  of 
1847,  which  recommended  the  study  of  agriculture  "in  our  best  common 
schools."  But  no  text-book  on  agriculture  fit  for  use  in  the  common  schools 
existed,  and  to  suppty  that  want  Dr.  Davis  prepared  the  work  under  con- 
sideration. It  is  in  the  fonri  of  a  school  book,  with  questions  and  answers, 
commencing  with  elementary  chemistry,  and  ending  vvith  "Insects  and 
Worms  Injurious  to  Vegetation."  In  its  day  it  must  have  been  an  exceed- 
ingly welcome  addition  to  the  common  school  text-books. 

It  appears  that  the. State  Agricultural  Society  offered  a  premium  for 
the  best  work  on  agriculture,  and  our  author  submitted  his  book,  not  quite 
coniplete,  in  competition  with  others,  and  was  awarded  a  "small  premium" 


84  LITERARV    AXD    JOURXALISTIC   WORK 

bv  the  examining-  committee,  with  the  privilege  of  revising  and  completing 
his  work,  and  submitting  it  for  final  competitive  examination,  ^^''hen  the 
time  came,  Dr.  Davis  presented  his  book  again  ;  "bnt  finding  that  it  Avas 
the  only  one  in  the  hands  of  the  committee,  it  was  withdrawn,  the  author 
not  wishing  to  ask  an  award  in  a  coiirs  sciilcnieiit" — an  example  of  high- 
toned  honor  and  delicacy,  which  will  bear  copying  in  these  later  and  per- 
haps less  scrupulous  days. 

His  next  work  was  a  niodest  little  12  mo.  volume  of  228  pages,  with 
the  following  overpowering  title : 

"History  of  Medical  Edlxatiox  axd  Ixstitutioxs  ix  the 
UxiTED  States,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  British  Colo- 
nies to  the  year  1850;  with  a  chapter  on  the  Present  Condi- 
tion and  Wants  of  the  Profession,  and  the  means  necessary  for 
supplying  those  wants,  and  elevating  the  character  and  extend- 
ing the  usefulness  of  the  whole  Profession. — Chicago,  185 1." 
One  is  very  much  tempted  to  pity  this  innocent  little  book,  with  its 
back  load  of  title,  but  a  more  interesting,  readable  and  profitable  bit  of 
medical  history,  cannot  be  found  anywhere.     I  regret  to  say  that  it  is  out 
of  print,  although  I  have  myself  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  a  copy, 
and  have  perused  it  with  peculiar  pleasure.     It  is  inscribed  by  the  author 
to  his  '"esteemed  friend  and  benefactor.  Dr.  \Mllard  Parker,  of  Xew  York, 
especially;  and  to  the  medical  profession  of  the  United  States  generally." 
(Dr.  Willard  Parker  was  at  that  time  the  leading  surgeon  of  Xew  York.) 
Our  author's  next  publication  in  book  form,  was 
"A  History  of  the  Americax  ^Medical  Associatiox  from  its 

Orgaxizatiox  to  Jaxuary,  1855." 
This  book,  from  preface  to  finis,  is  an  unconscious  paean  of  triumph. 
Although  the  author  knew  full  well  that  the  American  Medical  Association 
V\'as  mainly  the  fruit  of  his  own  labor  ;  that  many  obstacles  had  been  met  and 
overcome  by  him  in  accomplishing  this  work,  and  that  its  success  and  per- 
manency now  seemed  well  assured,  yet  we  find  no  attempt  at  self-glorifica- 
tion, no  vindictive  flings  at  those  who  opposed  him  and  his  broad  and  states- 
man-like plans  :  but  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  rejoicing  in  the  hour  of 
victory  which  was  undoubtedly  shared  by  most  of  the  readers  of  that  his- 
tory, Avhen  it  was  first  issued.  It  is  altogether  desirable  that  this  work,  now 
out  of  print  and  almost  impossible  to  obtain,  be  reissue<l  and  brought  down 
to  date  by  some  competent  successor  of  Dr.  Davis. 

Xext  in  order  comes  a  book  entitled  "Clixical  Lectures  ox'  A'arious 
Importaxt  Diseases."  whereof  the  second  edition  was  issued  in  1874.  It 
was  edited  by  Dr.  F.  H.  Davis,  Dr.  X'.  S.  Davis'  son,  who  was  closely  as- 
sociated with  his  father,  until  his  untimelv  deatli.  as  alreadv  noted.     This 


LITERARY   AND   JOURNALISTIC    WORK  65 

is  a  small  and  unpretentious  work  of  twenty  clinical  lectures,  based  upon 
cases  occurring  in  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis'  service  in  Mercy  Hospital.  As  a  second 
■edition  was  called  for  only  a  year  after  the  issue  of  the  first,  the  lectures 
must  have  found  favor  with  the  profession.  In  olancing  over  this  work 
at.  the  present  day,  one  is  struck  with  the  vast  changes  in  the  treatment 
of  acute  diseases,  when  compared  with  that  of  thirt^■  or  forty  vears  ago. 
Then  patients  were  "treated"  indeed  ;  noiv  they  are  pretty  much  left  to  the 
trained  nurse  and  the  vis  mcdicatrix  iiatiircc. 

Dr.  Davis  contributed  a  chapter  on  Bronchitis  to  Lea  Brothers  &. 
Co.'s  "System  of  Practical  Medicine,''  published  in  1885,  which  shared  the 
fate  of  most  of  the  articles  consigned  to  such  literarv  graveyards  as  the 
wearisome  "systems''  of  medicine  and  surgery,  published  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  have  turned  out  to  be.  .^ 

In  1886,  he  published  the  second  edition  of  his  greatest  work,  entitled 
"Lectures  ON  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine/'  issued  from 
the  press  of  Jansen,  McClurg  &  Co.,  of  Chicago.  One  of  the  things  which 
Dr.  Davis  "set  before  himself  to  accomplish,"  as  he  remarked  to  his  trusted 
friend,  Dr.  John  H.  Hollister,  was  the  publication  of  a  "text-book  which 
should  embody  his  views  of  the  'Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine.'  "  And 
this  text-book  first  made  its  appearance  in  1884,  and  in  a  little  more  than 
a  year  a  second  edition  was  called  for.  It  was  one  of  the  first  text-books  to 
adopt  the  metric  system.  It  is  in  the  form  of  didactic  lectures  extemporan- 
eously delivered,  but  stenographically  reported.  There  are  ninety-two  lec- 
tures in  all,  the  closing  lecture  being  on  the  "Therapeutics  of  Alcohol"'  and 
the  closing  words  of  this  characteristic  address  are  quoted  from  the  wise 
inan:  "Wine  is  a  mocker,  and  strong  drink  is  raging;  and  whosoever  is 
deceived  thereby,  is  not  wise." 

The  student  who  reads  these  lectures,  reads  Dr.  Davis.  They  are  his 
own  production,  delivered  in  his  own  clear,  terse  style,  embodying  his  own 
views  as  to  pathology  and  treatment.  He  quotes  from  nobody,  except  King 
Solomon,  defers  to  nobody,  borrows  from  nobody:  but  in  his  own  sturdy 
and  positive  manner  proceeds  with  his  task,  and  finishes  it  up,  without  the 
slightest  indication  that  he  has  exhausted  either  himself  or  his  subject. 

It  is  certainly  delightful  to  notice  that  we  find  in  these  lectures  no  en- 
couragement given  to  the  hopeless  and  enervating  therapeutic  agnosticism 
which  limps  so  languidly  through  most  of  our  recent  text-books  on  the 
Practice  of  Medicine. 

Dr.  Davis  made  some  contributions  to  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.'s  "Reference 
Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences"  and  to  Sajous'  "Annual  of  the  Uni- 
versal Medical  Sciences!'  where  they  are  safely  and  permanently  hidden 
from  mortal  vision. 


86  LITERARY   AND    JOURNALISTIC    WORK 

In  1903  the  Cleveland  Press  of  Chicago  published  the  first  edition  of 
Dr.  Davis'  "History  of  Medicine,"  and  at  the  present  time  (August,  1907) 
a  second  edition  is  passing  through  the  press.  In  the  judgment  of  the 
present  writer,  this  is  the  best  and  ablest  of  the  works  of  its  distinguished 
author.  It  is  a  book  of  209  pages,  divided  into  fourteen  chapters.  The- 
work  is  based  upon  the  author's  annual  courses  of  lectures,  from  1892  to- 
1897,  "both  years  included,"  to  the  senior  class  of  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity Medical  School,  on  the  history  of  medicine.  "The  following  chap- 
ters," states  the  author  in  his  preface,  "constituting  this  book,  have  been 
v/ritten  and  revised  from  the  notes  used  in  the  lecture  room ;  each  chapter 
representing  a  lecture  in  the  order  in  which  it  was  given."  It  is  a  concise,, 
condensed,  but  very  comprehensive  and  complete  history  of  the  "progres- 
sive development  of  the  various  branches  of  medical  science  and  practice," 
*  =^  *  *  "from  the  earliest  periods  of  which  we  have  any  records,  to- 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era."*  Every  chapter 
gives  evidence  of  careful  study,  painstaking  investigation,  close  familiarit}^ 
with  the  literature  of  the  subject^  and  consummate  ability  and  cleverness. 
in  the  arrangement  of  material. 

It  is  remarkable,  in  the  first  place,  how  the  busy  author  ever  found 
time  and  opportunity  to  gather  the  necessary  data  for  this  History,  and  in 
the  second  place  how  he  ever  managed  to  condense  such  a  vast  store  of 
information  into  so  small  a  space,  without  spoiling  it  by  too  much  con- 
densation. But  the  fact  remains  that  in  this  rather  diminutive  volume,  we 
find  an  essentially  complete  and  connected  history  of  medicine  "from  the 
earliest  period  of  which  we  have  any  records,  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century,"  and  the  story  is  told  in  a  style  worthy  of  the  subject  and  of  the 
venerable  author,  for  when  this  volume  v\^as  first  printed,  he  was  eighty- 
six  years  of  age.  As  he  died  in  less  than  a  year  after  the  publication  of 
this  book,  it  may  be  regarded  as  his  last  literary  work,  and  as  a  fitting* 
■finale  to  his  long  and  remarkable  literary  and  journalistic  career. 

In  endeavoring  to  form  a  just  and  impartial  estimate  of  Dr.  Davis*" 
position  in  medical  literature,  we  remark  at  once  that  it  is  almost  marvelous 
how  so  busy  a  man  ever  found  time  to  turn  ofit  such  an  astonishing  amount 
of  work,  and  the  wonder  grows  still  greater  when  we  rem.ember  that  he 
never  employed  a  private  secretary,  amanuensis,  stenograplier  or  typewriter,, 
except  in  the  preparation  of  his  Practice  of  Medicine,  and  a  very  little  of 
his  later  literary  work.  He  never  "got  used"  to  having  assistance  about 
anything  that  he  could  do  himself.  He  wrote  slowly,  1)ut  he  could  work 
for  many  hours  at  a  stretch,  without  seetning  to  suffer  any  material  ex- 
haustion or  nervous  wear  and  tear.     His  chirography  was  certainly  no  in- 


\^ 


^History  of  Medicine  (preface). 


LITERARY  AND   JOURNALISTIC   WORK  8/ 

dex  of  the  character  of  the  man,  as  will  be  seen  b)^  the  specimen  page  given 
elsewhere. 

As  to  the  actual  and  permanent  value  of  his  writings,  it  is  altogether 
likely  that  his  contributions  to  medical  literature  will  share  the  fate  of  the 
vast  volume  of  the  productions  of  other  men,  which  may  or  may  not  have 
been  read,  but  at  all  events  are  forgotten.  Where  are  the  text-books  ol 
my  own  student  days?  What  has  been  the  destiny  of  the  journalistic 
medical  literature  of  twenty  years  ago?  Both  are  regarded  as  worthless 
— except  as  curiosities — by  the  younger  and  more  advanced  men  of  to- 
day. 

In  the  very  nature  of  things  medical  literature  must  be  to  a  great 
extent,  ephemeral,  for  which  let  us  be  thankful.  Let  our  friends  the  lawyers 
hug  their  musty  old  tomes,  and  solemnly  bow  down  to  "precedent,"  but 
let  us  medical  men  push  forward  into  "green  fields  and  pastures  new,"  just 
exactly  as  Dr.  Davis  did  during  the  whole  of  his  long  and  useful  life.  His 
medical  writings  served  their  purpose  and  their  day ;  they  were  a  constant 
incentive  to  the  younger  men  of  his  time,  and  they  are  still  an  example 
of  what  a  life  of  intense  intellectual  activity  can  accomplish. 

His  historical  works  will  become  permanent  works  of  reference,  and 
their  value  will  increase  as  the  years  go  by  and  the  early  history  of  Ameri- 
can Medicine,  especially  as  regards  medical  education,  becomes  more  and 
more  important. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Literary  and   Scientific   Harvest  of  a   Busy   Life. 

The  following  list  comprises  the  more  important  essays,  papers,  ad- 
dresses, reports  and  volumes  written  on  professional,  scientific  or  educa- 
tional subjects  and  published  in  various  books  and  periodicals  b}^  Dr.  Davis 
from  Feby.,  1840,  to  March,  1904;  making  a  little  more  than  sixty-four  years 
of  continuous  literary  and  scientific  activity: 

1.  A  "Prize  Essay  on  Diseases  of  the  Spinal  Column," 
presented  to  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society  in  February, 
1840,  and  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  for  that 
year. 

2.  A  "Prize  Essay  on  the  Discoveries  in  the  Physiology 
OF  THE  Nervous  System  from  the  Time  of  Charles  Bell 
TO  the  Present  Time/'"  (1841),  presented  to  the  New  York 
State  Medical  Society,  Feb.,  1841,  and  published  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Society  that  year. 

3.  "A  Brief  Review  of  Dr.  Marshall  Hall  on  an 
Excito-Motory  System  of  Nerves."  See  Transactions  of  N. 
Y.  State  Med.  Society,  1842. 

4.  "AIedical  and  Topogilaphical  Sketches  of  Bingham- 
TON,  and  the  Surrounding  Country."  See  Transactions  of 
the  N.  Y.  State  Med.  Society,  1843. 

5.  Also  in  same  volume  of  Transactions  a  paper  on  the 
"Epidemic  Influenza,"  as  it  prevailed  at  Binghamton. 

6.  Report  of  the  "Medico-Legal  Testimony  on  the  Trial 
of  Mrs.  Turpenning  for  the  Murder  of  Her  Husband,  with 
Observations  on  the  Same."  See  Tranactions  of  the  A'.  Y. 
State  Med.  Society,  1844. 

7.  Report  on  "AIedical  Education,  Examinations  and 
Legislation,"  to  N.  Y.  State  Aledical  Society,  Feb.,  1845. 
See  Transactions  for  that  year.  "  , 

8.  "A  Text-Book  on  Agriculture,  Designed  for  Study 
in  Schools."  Published  by  S.  S.  &  W.  Wood,  New  York, 
1848. 


THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  J!USV   f.IFE  SQ 

9.  "Short  Essays  on  Pathology,  an  Inquiry  into  the 
Nature  of  Diseases  and  the  Condition  of  the  Solids  and 
Fluids  whicpi  Attend  Them."  See  The  .liiaiist.  New  York, 
1847-8. 

10.  Report  "On  the  Medical  Proj^erties  of  Indigenous 
Medicinal  Plants,"  to  the  American  Medical  Association, 
1848-49.     See  Transactions,  Volumes  I.  and  II. 

11.  An  address  on  "Free  Medical  Schools/'  introductory 
to  the  course  of  instruction  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Oct., 
1849. 

12.  A  paper  on  the  question,  "Has  the  Cerebellum  any 
Special  Connection  with  the  Sexual  Propensity  or  Func- 
tion of  Generation?"  with  some  original  investigations.  See 
Transactions  of  Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  3,  1850. 

13.  "History  of  Medical  Education  and  Institutions 
IN  the  United  States,  from  the  First  Settlement  of  the 
British  Provinces  to  the  Year  1850,  with  a  Chapter  on 
Ti-iE  Present  Condition  and  Wants  of  the  Profession,  and 
the  Means  Necessary  for  Supplying  Those  Wants."  Chi- 
cago, 1 85 1. 

14.  "An  Experimental  Inquiry  Concerning  Some 
Points  Connected  with  the  Functions  of  Assimilation, 
Nutrition  and  Animal  Heat  ;  also  Analyses  of  the  Blood 
OF  THE  Renal  Vein  and  Artery  and  that  of  the  Iliac  Vein 
AND  Artery  of  Same  Animal."  Read  before  the  Amer.  Med. 
Association,  1851,  and  published  in  North  Western  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,  1851. 

15.  "Report  of  the  Committee  on  Medical  Literature" 
to  the  Amer.  Med.  Association,  1853.  See  Transactions,  p.  97, 
Vol.  VI. 

16.  "An  Inquiry,  Critical  and  Experimental,  into  the 
Pathology  of  Fever."  See  North  Western  Med.  and  Surg. 
Journal,  Vol.  II.     New  Series,  1853,  Chicago. 

17.  "Report  of  the  Committee  on  Practical  Medicine, 
Presented  to  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,''  June, 
1852.     SeeTransactions,  p.  47,  1852. 

18.  "On  the  Intimate  Relations  of  Medical  Science 
TO  the  Whole  Field  of  Natural  Sciences,"  being  the 
annual  address  to  the  111.  State  Medical  Society.  See  Transac- 
tions, p.  15,  1852. 


90  the  literary  records  of  a  busy  life 

19.  "On  the  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  the 
Human  System  and  the  Duties  of  Medical  Men  in  Rela- 
tion Thereto/'  an  address  delivered  by  request  of  the  class 
in  Rush  Medical  College  on  Christmas  Day  (Dec.  25th,  1854). 
with  results  of  original  experiments  appended.  See  North  West- 
ern Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  j\Iarch,  1855,  Vol.  IV.,  New 
Series. 

20.  "Report  on  the  Means  of  Preserving  Milk/'  pre- 
sented to  the  Amer.  Med.  Association.  See  Transactions,  p. 
535,  Vol.  VIIL,  1855. 

21.  "Report  on  the  Changes  in  the  Composition  and 
Properties  of  the  Milk  of  the  Human  Femaxe,  Produced 
by  Menstruation  and  Pregnancy/'  pi-esented  to  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association.  See  Transactions,  p.  515,  Vol.  IX., 
1856. 

22.  "On  the  Influence  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on 
Phthisis  or  Consumption/'  being  the  annual  address  to  the 
Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  June  4th,  1856.  See  Transac- 
tions of  Society,  p.  71,  1856. 

23.  "History  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
EROM  ITS  Organization  to  January,  1855."  Philadelphia: 
Lippincott,  Grambo  &  Co.,  1855. 

24.  "On  the  Cfianges  that  Take  Place  in  the  Blood 
in  the  Continued  Forms  of  Fever,  Including  Chemical 
Analyses."  Presented  to  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
June,  1857.     See  Transactions,  p.  92,  1857. 

25.  "Effects  of  Alcohol  in  Phthisis."  See  North  West- 
ern Medical  and  Snvgical  Journal,  Vol.  VI.,  New  Series,  pp. 
48-190,  1857. 

26.  "Address  Introductory  to  the  Annual  Course  of 
Instruction  in  Rush  Medical  College.'"  C)ct.,  1857.  See 
North  Western  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  Dec,  1857. 

27.  "The  Mutual  Relations  and  Consequent  Mutual 
Duties  of  the  Medical  Profession  and  of  the  Community," 
being  the  annual  address  to  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
May,  i860.     See  Transactions,  p.  19. 

28.  "On  the  Food  Most  Proper  for  Infants  When  De- 
prived of  the  Milk-  of  the  Mother."  See  Transactions  of  the 
Jll.  State  Med.  Society,  p.  161,  i860. 


the  litiirary  records  of  a  busy  life  01 

29.  "On  the  Influence  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  the 
Development  and  Progress  of  Pulmonary  Tuberculosis." 
Read  in  the  M^pdical  Section  of  the  Amer.  Med.  Association, 
June,  i860.      See  Transactions,  Vol  i^,  p.  565,  i860. 

30.  "Medical  College  Education/'  introductory  address 
at  the  opening  of  the  Medical  Department  of  Lind  University, 
Oct.,  1859.     See  Chicago  Medical  Examiner,  Vol.  i,  p.  i,  i860. 

31.  "Nature  and  Art.  Their  Relative  Influence  in 
THE  Management  of  Diseases.  Are  they  Antagonistic  or 
Co-operative?"  An  essay  read  to  the  Chicago  Medical  So- 
ciety, Oct.  19th,  i860.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  II., 
p.  129,  1861. 

32.  "On  Inversio-Uteri,  its  Causes,  Mechanism  and 
Medico-Legal  Bearings."  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol. 
II.,  p.  4,  1861. 

33.  "On  Cerebro-Spinal  Meningitis,"  its  Pathology  and 
Treatment.  See  Chicago.  Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  304, 
1863. 

34.  "Lecture  Introductory  to  the  Fifth  Annual 
Course  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  Oct.  i2th,  1863." 
See  Chicago  Med.  Examine}',  Vol.  IV.,  p.  550,  1863. 

35.  "The  Report  on  Practical  Medicine,"  to  the  Illi- 
nois State  Medical  Society,  May,  1864.  See  Transactions,  p. 
14,  1864. 

36.  "On  the  Nature  and  Objects  of  Medical  Study — 
Duties  and  Qualifications  of  the  Physician — Influence 
of  Popular  Opinions — the  Present  Status  of  Practical 
Medicine."  See  Chicago  Medical  Examiner,  Vol.  V.,  p.  616, 
1864. 

37.  Address  of  the  President  of  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation, June,  1865.     See  Transactions,  Vol.   16,  p.  71,  1865. 

38.  "Report  to  the  Mayor  and  Council  on  the  Means 
FOR  Improving  the  Sanitary  Condition  of  Chicago."  See 
Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  Y\.,  p.  705,  1865. 

39.  "Address  to  the  American  Dental  Association," 
July  27th,  1865.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner.  Vol.  VI.,  p.  576, 
1865. 

40.  "Report  on  the  Etiological  and  Pathological  Re- 
lations OF  Epidemic  Erysipelas,   Spotted  Fever  and  Diph- 


ij2  THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

THERiA."     See  Transactions  of  the  American  Med.  Association, 
\^ol.  17,  p.  379,  1866. 

41.  "Report  on  the  Convention  of  Delegates  from  the 
Several  ^Medical  Colleges  of  the  United  States/"  Cincin- 
nati, May,  1867.     See  Transactions,  \'ol.  18,  p.  377,  1867. 

42.  "Experimental  Inquiries  Concerning  the  Physio- 
logical Effects  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  Man,"  presented 
to  the  111.  State  Med.  Society.    See  Transactions  for  1867. 

43.  "How  far  do  the  Facts  Accompanying  the  Preva- 
lence OF  Epidemic  Cholera  in  Chicago  During  the  Sum- 
mer AND  Autumn  of  1866  Throw  Light  of  the  Etiology  of 
that  Disease?"     Read  to  the  Amer.  Med.  Association,   May, 

1867.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  637,  1867. 

44.  "Report  on  tfle  Sanitary  Condition  of  Chicago  and 
the  Prevalence  of  Disease  from  Oct.,  1867,  to  April,  1868." 
See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  257,  1868. 

45.  "Report  on  the  Pathology  and  Treatment  of 
Epidemic  Cholera,"  presented  to  111.  State  Med.  Society,  May, 

1868.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner.  Yol.  IX.,  p.  527. 

46.  "On  the  PIistory,  Condition  and  Means  of  Im- 
provement OF  Medical  Journalism  in  the  United  States." 
An  address  presented  to  the  American  Association  of  ^Medical 
Editors,  May  2d,  1870.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examiner,  Vol. 
— ,  1870. 

47.  "Report  on  Vegetable  Parasites  and  their  Etiolog- 
ical Relations  to  Disease."  Presented  to  the  111.  State  Micro- 
scopical Society,  Jan.  14th,  1870.  See  Chicago  Med.  Examinev, 
Vol.  XL,  p.  70,  1870. 

48.  "Report  on  Resolutions  and  Correspondence  with 
State  IMedical  Societies  Concerning  the  Means  for  Ele- 
vating the  Standard  of  ]\Iedical  Edl^cation."  Presented  to 
the  Amer.  Med.  Association,  May,  1871.  See  Transactions,  Vol. 
22,  p.  159,  1871. 

49.  A  paper  on  the  "Comparative  Effects  of  Alcohol 
and  Tobacco,  on  the  Hltman  System,"  presented  by  request 
to  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  Dec.  26th,  1870.  See  Chicago 
Med.  Examiner,  Vol.  XIL,  pp.  129  and  274,  1871. 

50.  "Report  on- a  Proposed  Revision  of  the  Code  of  Med- 
ical Ethics  of  the  American  Med.  Association,"  June,  1874. 
See  Transactions,  Vol.  25,  p.  28,  1874. 


THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE  93 

51.  Address  on  "Practical  Medicine/'  etc.,  to  the  Section 
on  Practice  of  Medicine,  Materia  Medica  and  Physiolog)-.  See 
Transactions  of  American  Med.  Association,  Vol.  25,  p.  109, 
1874. 

52.  "On  Chronic  Cerebro-Spinal  Meningitis."  Read  to 
111.  State  Med.  Society  in  May,  1873.  See  Transactions  of  the 
Society,  page  219,  1873. 

53.  "Report  on  the  Necessity  for  Coincident  Clinical 
AND  Meteorological  Observations  and  Records  in  the 
Study  of  Etiology;  and  on  the  Influence  of  Atmospheric 
Conditions  in  the  Development  of  Bowel  Affections  of 
Children."  See  Trartsactions  of  American  Med.  Association,  , 
Vol.  26,  p.  125,  1875. 

54.  Address  on  the  "Progress  of  Medical  Education  in 
the  United  States  from  1776  to  1876,"  delivered'  to  the  Cen- 
tennial International  Aledical  Congress,  at  Philadelphia,  1876. 
See  Transactions  of  the  Congress. 

The  same  revised  and  extended,  was  published  the  same  year 
by  the  National  Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

55.  "Report  on  Clinical  and  Meteorological  Records 
in  Their  Relation  to  Etiology."  See  Transactions  of  Amer. 
Med.  Association,  Vol.  28,  p.  153,  1877. 

56.  "Report  on  Drugs  and  Medicines  to  the  III.  State 
Med.  Society."    See  Transactions,  p.  180,  1878. 

57.  "Report  on  the  Prevention  of  Bowel  Affections^ 
BOTPi  IN  Children  and  Adults,  as  Indicated  by  a  Compari- 
son OF  Clinical  and  Meteorological    Facts    Relating    to^  . 
Their  Etiology."    See  Transactions  of  Amer.  Med.  Association,. 
Vol.  30,  p.  145,  1879. 

58.  "Report  on  Ozone  and  Other  Atmospheric  Condi- 
tions IN  Connection  with  Records  of  the  Prevalence  of 
Diseases."  See  Transactions  of  Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.. 
32,  p.  481,   1881. 

59.  "On  the  Therapeutic  Value  of  Internal  Anti- 
pyretics IN  THE  Treatment  of  Fevers."  See  Transactions  IlL 
State  Med.  Society,  p.  253,  May,  1882. 

60.  "On  the  Efficient  Causes  of  Serous  Diarrhoea  and 
Cholera  Morbus  in  Infancy  and  Early  Childhood,  and  the 
best  Means  for  Lessening  the  Mortality  from  those  Af- 


94  '-I'lIE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

FECTiONS."     See  Transactions  of  Amcr.  Med.  Association,  Vol. 
33.  P-  439>  1882. 

61.  "Report  on  Practical  Medicine  and  Epidemics  to 
III.  State  jMed.  Society."  -See  Transactions  of  the  Society,  p. 
63,  1883. 

62.  Clinical  Lectures  on  \''arious  Important  Dis- 
eases:"    Second  Edition,  Philadelphia:     Henry  C.  Lea,  1874. 

63.  "Address  on  the  Present  Status  and  Future  Ten- 
dencies OF  the  Medical  Profession  in  the  United  States," 
delivered  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Association  of 
Medical   Editors,    Cleveland,   June    5th,    1883.      See   Journal    of 

,Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  I.,  p.  33,  1883. 

64.  "Report  on  jMeteorological  Conditions  and  their 
Relations  to  the  Prevalence  of  Acute  Disease."  See  Joiu'- 
nal  of  the  Amcr.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  85  and  169, 
1884. 

65.  "On  the  Use  of  Ergot  in  the  Treatment  of  Cer- 
tain Conditions  in  Pneumonia."  See  Jour.  A  met'.  Med.  As- 
sociation, Vol.  II.,  p.  369,  1884. 

66.  Chapter  on  "Bronchitis — Acute  and  Chronic — 
Catarrhal,  Mechanical,  Capillary  and  Pseudo-Mem- 
braneous." See  A  System  of  Practical  Medicine  by  American 
Authors,  Vol.  III.     Philadelphia,  Lea  Brothers  &  Co.,  1885. 

Gy.  "Lectures  on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Med- 
icine;" (nearly  900  pages.)  Chicago:  Jansen,  ]\IcClurg  &  Co., 
1884.    Second  edition  in  1886. 

68.  "Report  of  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Amer. 
J\Ied.  Association,  on  Changes  in  the  Plan  of  Organiza- 
tion AND  By-laws  of  that  Association."  See  Journal  of  the 
Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  711,  1887. 

69.  "Inaugural  Address"  as  President  of  the  IX,  Inter- 
national Medical  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C,  1887.  See 
Transactions  of  the  Congress,  Vol.  I.,  p.  10,  1887. 

70.  Articles  on  "Insanity  in  Acute  and  Chronic  Alco- 
holism ;  Polyuria  or  Diabetes  Insipidus  ;  Chronic  Articu- 
lar Rheumatism,"  in  the  Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  Vols.  IV.,  V.,  VI.,  New  York.  William  Wood  & 
Company,  1887-1888.- 

71.  "Report  on  the  Influence  of  Meteorological  and 
Topographical  Conditions  on  the    Prevalence    of    Acute 


THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIKE  95 

Diseases/'  to  the  111.  State  Med.  Society.     See  Transactions  of 
the  Society,  p.  41,  1889. 

^2.  "The  Influence  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion IN  its  Relations  to  the  Public  Health."  Presented 
at  the  meeting,  1889.  See  Journal  of  the  Amer.  Med.  Associa- 
Aion,  Vol.  XIII. ,  p.  122,  1889. 

73.  "History  of  the  Medical  Profession  and  Medical 
Institutions  of  Ci-iicago."  See  Magazine  of  Western  History, 
New  York,  132  Nassau  St.,  Vol.  XI.-XIL,  1889-90. 

74.  "Influence  of  Alcohol  on  the  H^uman  System, 
Especially  as  Used  in  Beer  and  Wine;  Viewed  from  a 
Scientific  Standpoint  ;  Together  with  tfie  Amount  of 
Alcoholic  Liquors  Annually  Consumed  in  the  United 
States/'  New  York  National  Temperance  Society  Publication 
House,  58  Reade  St.,  1890. 

75.  Annual  Address  on  "Practical  MedicineV'  read  to 
Amer.  Med.  Association,  May,  1890.  See  Journal  of  Amer. 
Med.  Association,  Vol.  XIV.,  p.  746,  1890. 

y6.  "Report  on  the  Meteorological  Conditions  and 
their  Relations  to  tfie  Epidemic  Influenza  and  Other 
Diseases  in  Chicago  During  the  Six  Montfis  Ending  March 
.3 1ST,  1890."  See  Journal  of  the  Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol. 
XIV.,  p.  817,  1890. 

yy.  "The  Basis  of  Scientific  Medicine  and  the  Proper 
Methods  of  Investigation."  A  lecture  to  the  Post-Graduate 
Medical  School  of  Chicag'o.  Jan.  6th,  1891.  See  Journal  of  the 
Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  XVI.,  p.  114,  1891. 

78.  "Report  on  the  Relations  of  Meteorological  Con- 
ditions TO  the  Origin  and  Prevalence  of  Acute  Diseases." 
See  Journal  of  Amer.  Med.  Association,  Vol.  XVII.,  p.  245,  1891. 

79.  "On  the  Origin  and  Spread  of  Yellow  Fever  and 
-the  Means  of  Preventing  it."  See  Maryland  Medical  Jour- 
Mai,  Oct.,  1878. 

80.  "Brief  Comments  on  the  Pathology  of  Pneumonia 
.and  the  Principles  that  Should  Guide  in  its  Treatment.-" 

Presented   to   the    Chicago    jMedical    Society,    Feb.,    1892.      See 
Chicago  Medical  Recorder. 

81.  "On  the  Prevalent  Therapeutic  Inconsistencies  in 
IMedical  Practice;  Illustrated  in  Current  Medical  Liter- 
ature and  in  Clinical  Observations."     Presented  at  the  an- 


96  THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

nual  meeting  of  the  Michigan  State  Med.  Society.     See  Transac- 
tions of  that  Society,  Vol.  XVI.,  p.  62,  1892. 

82.  "On  the  Physiological  and  Therapeutic  Differ- 
ence Between  the  Carbo-Hydrates^  Constituting  Proxi- 
mate Elements  of  Living  Vegetable  and  Animal  Bodies^  and 
those  Resulting  fro:m  Bacteriological  or  Retrograde  Ac- 
tion." Being  the  annual  address  to  the  Amer,  Med.  Temp.  As- 
sociation, June  9th,  1892.  See  Transactions  of  that  Society  for 
1892. 

83.  A  paper  on  "Illusions  and  Delusions  in  Medical 
Practice,"   read   to   the   Illinois    State    Medical    Society,    May, 

1892.  See  Transactions,  p.  54,  1892. 

84.  "On  the  Influence  of  the  Ship  Canal,  now  Being 
Constructed  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Chicago  Drainage 
District,  on  the  Sanitary  Condition  of  Chicago  and  the 
State  of  Illinois."     Presented  to  the  111.  Med.  Society,  May, 

1893.  See  Transactions  of  the  Society,  p.  493,  1893. 

85.  "Clinical  Facts  and  Cases  Illustrating  the  Ef- 
fects OF  Alcoholic  Liquors  in  the  Treatment  of  Typhoid 
Fever,  Pneumonia,  Diphtheria  and  Some  Other  Affec- 
tions." Being  the  annual  address  to  the  Amer.  Med.  Temp. 
Association,  June,  1893.  See  The  Amer.  Med.  Temp.  Quarterly, 
July,  1893,  p.  I. 

86.  "History  of  the  American  Medical  Temperance 
Association."  See  Temperance  in  All  Nations,  Vol.  L,  p.  89, 
1893. 

87.  Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Amer.  Med.  Temp.  As- 
sociation Section  of  the  World's  Temperance  Congresses,  in 
the  Art  Institute,  Chicago,  June  loth,  1893.  See  Temperance  in 
All  Nations,  Vol.  II.,  p.  185,  1893. 

88.  "The  Results  of  Scientific  Investigations  Con- 
cerning the  Effects  of  Alcohol  on  the  Living  Human 
System,  to  this  Date."  A  paper  read  in  the  Medical  Section  of 
the  World's  Temp.  Congresses,  June,  1893.  See  Temp,  in  All 
Nations,  Vol.  II.,  p.  209,  1893. 

89.  Section  on  "Gout"''  in  the  Supplement  to  Reference 
Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  New  York:  William  Wood 
&  Co.,  p.  382,  1893.    - 

90.  "The  History,  Present  Status,  and  Future  Progress 
OF   Practical  Medicine."       A  lecture  at  the     Post-Graduate 


THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  13USY  LIFE  Cf] 

Medical  School  and  Hospital  of  Chicago,  Sept.  ist,  1893.     See 
Chicago  Clinical  Rcviczv,  Oct.,  1893. 

91.  "Introductory  Lecture  to  the  Thirty-fifth  An- 
nual Course  of  Instruction  in  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity Medical  School''  ( Chicago  Medical  College),  Sept. 
26th,  1893.    See  Tke  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  Oct.,  1893. 

92.  Section  on  "Rheumatism  and  Gout;"  in  the  Annual 
of  the  Universal  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  L,  each  year,  from  1888 
to  1894,  inclusive.     F.  A.  Davis  Company,  Philadelphia,  1893. 

93.  "On  the  Nature  and  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Liquors." 
Being  the  introductory  address  before  the  International  Medical 
Congress  in  Prohibition  Park,  Station  Island,  July  15th,  1891. 
Published  in  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Quarterly,  Jan., 
1894. 

94.  "The  Sources  or  Causes  of  Erroneous  Conclusions 
from  Clinicvvl  Observations  Concerning  the  Effects  of 
Alcohol  in  the  Treatment  of  Disease."  Medical  Temper- 
ance Quarterly,  July,  1894. 

95.  "A  Series  of  Apparently  Well  Established  Facts 
in  Therapeutics  on  vv^hich  are  Based  Some  Questions  of 
Great  Practical  Importance."  Journal  of  American  Medical 
Association,  Dec.  22d,  1894. 

96.  "What  are  the  Essential  Conditions  for  the 
Maintenance  of  the  Natural  Action  of  the  Heart;  and 
What  are  the  Causes  that  Impair  Such  Action,  or  Cause 
its  Entire  Failure,  Especially  in  the  Progress  of  Acute 
Febrile  Affections?"  American  Medical  Temperance  Quar- 
terly, Jan.,  1895. 

97.  "The  Present  Status  of  Bacteriologic  Investiga- 
tions AND  Their  Relations  to  Etiology  and  Therapeutics." 
Read  at  the  Forty-fifth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Illinois  State 
Medical  Society,  May,  1895.     Transactions  of  the  Society,  1895. 

98.  "Some  Familiar  Clinical  Cases  Illustrating  Im- 
portant Items  Connected  with  the  Etiology,  Pathology, 
AND  Therapeutics  of  Disordered  Digestion  and  Assimila- 
tion." See  International  Clinics,  Vol.  I.,  Fifth  Series,  Phila- 
delphia, 1895. 

99.  "Does  Alcohol  Ever  Act  as  a  Food  or  as  a  Genera- 
tor of  Any  Natural  Force  in  the  Living  Body?"  Read  in 
the  Section  on  State  Medicine  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 


C)S  THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

ciation,  2\Iay,  1895.     Published  in  Journal  of  American  Medical 
Association,  Sept.  I4tli,  1895. 

100.  "On  THE  Alleged  Opposite  Action  of  Large  and 
Small  Doses  of  Drugs."  Read  in  a  meeting  of  the  British 
Medical  Temperance  Association  and  published  in  the  Medical' 
Pioneer,  London,  Eng.,  and  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Temperance  Association,  A^ol.  IIL,  No.  i,  Nov.,  1895. 

loi.  "The  Importance  of  the  Study  of  Medical  Juris- 
prudence BY  Students  of  Law,  and  the  Extent  to  which 
IT  Should  be  Taught  in  Schools  or  Colleges  for  the  Edu- 
cation OF  Such  Students."  A  paper  read  before  the  Sectiom 
of  Legal  Education  of  the  American  Bar  Association  at  the 
annual  meeting,  Aug.  30th,  1895.  See  Transactions  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, 1895. 

102.  "The  Causes  and  Treatment  of  Some  of  the  More 
Common  Functional  Disorders  of  the  Heart."  Published 
in  International  Clinics,  Vol.  IIL,  Fifth  Series,  and  continued 
in  Vol.  I.,  Sixth  Series,  1896. 

103.  "What  Constitutes  True  Clinical  Experience  in 
Medical  Practice,  and  its  Relations  to  the  Public  Health." 
Read  before  the  Section  on  State  Medicine  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  May,  1896.  Published  in  the  Journal  of 
the  American  Med.  Ass'n.,  May,  1896. 

104.  "An  Address  on  the  Character  of  Dr.  Edward 
Jenner  and  the  History  of  His  Discovery  of  the  Protec- 
tive Value  of  Vaccination."  Read  at  the  Centennial  Anni- 
versary, May,  1896.  Published  in  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  May  9th,  1896. 

105.  "A  Brief  History  of  the  Origin  of  the  American 
Medical  Association — The  Principles  on  which  it  was 
Organized — The  Object  it  was  Designed  to  Accomplish — 
And  How  Far  They  Have  Been  Attained  During  tpie 
Half-Century  of  its  Existence."  Published  in  Journal  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  June  12th,  1897. 

106.  "What  will  be  the  Effect  of  Havin^g  Pulmonary 
Tuberculosis  Officially  Declared  a  Contagious  Disease, 
AND  every  Case  to  be  Reported  by  the  Physician  and  be 
Subjected  to  Officl\l  Sanitary  Regulation?"  Published  in 
the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Med.  Temp.  Association.,  INIay, 
1897. 


the  literary  records  of  a  busy  life  99 

107.  "On  the  Therapeutic  Properties  of  Alcohol,  and 
THE  Reason  why  the  Fermented  and  Distilled  Beverages 
or  Liquors  Should  not  be  Recognized  in  the  Pharmaco- 
peia AS  Medicinal  Agents."  Published  October,  1897,  in  the 
BuUetin  of  the  Amcr.  Temp.  Association. 

108.  "Are  Narcotics  and  Anesthetics,  as  Opium, 
Tobacco,  Cocaine,  Alcohol,  Ether  and  Chloroform  Capa- 
ble OF  Filliistg  any  Natural  Want,  Instinct  or  Pi-iysio- 
logical  Process  in  the  Healthy  Human  Body?"  PiibHshed 
in  the  BuUetin  of  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Association, 
July,  1898. 

109.  "Heredity  and  its  Relations  to  Life  Insurance." 
Published  in  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  August,  1898.  Also  in 
Bulletin  of  Amer.  Med.  Temp.  Association,  July,  1898. 

no.  "Importance  of  Regulating  Dietetics  in  Harmony' 
WITH  THE  Physiological  Laws  Controlling  Digestion, 
Nutrition  and  Waste."  Bulletin  of  American  Medical  Temp. 
Association,  Jan.,  1899. 

111.  "What  are  the  Chief  Determining  Causes  of 
Death  in  Fatal  Cases  of  Typhoid  Fever,  Pneumonia^ 
Diphtheria,  etc.,  and  How  can  they  p.e  Most  Successfully 
Combatted?"     Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  March,  1899. 

112.  "What  are  the  Physiological  Processes  or  Func- 
tions that  Impart  to  the  Living  Human  Body  its  Vital 
Resistance  or  Immunity,  and  How  can  thb:y  be  Ended  b\' 
Therapeutic  Agents?"  Journal  of  Amer.  Med.  Association, 
July  1st,  1899. 

113.  "Is  THERE  Any  Causative  or  Etiological  Relation 
Between  the  Extensive  Use  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  and  the 
Continued  Increase  of  Epilepsy,  Imbecility,  Insanity  and 
Criminality  in  all  the  Countries  of  Europe  and  America?" 
Bulletin  of  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Association,  Octo- 
ber, 1899. 

114.  "Dental  and  Oral  Surgery:  Their  Relations  to 
THE  General  Field  of  Medicine  and  Surgery;  and  the 
Proper  Professional  Status  of  those  who  Practice  ti-iem." 
Journal  of  the  .Imerican  Med.  Association,  June  i6th,  1900. 

115.  "History  of  Experimental  Investigations  Con- 
cerning the  Influence  of  Alcohol  and  Alcoholic  "Drinks 
ON  THE  Functions  and  Structure  of  the  Living  Animal 


100  THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

Body  by  American  Txvestigators."  Bulletin  of  the  American 
Medical  Temperance  Association,  July  and  October,  1900. 

116.  "The  Evils  Resulting  from  Na.^iing  Diseases  or 
THEIR  Causes  after  Individuals^  and  the  Importance  of 
Maintaining  a  Clear  Distinction  Between  Etiology  and 
Pathology."  Transactior.s  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
1900. 

117.  "History  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society 
During  the  First  Fifty  Years  of  its  Existence."  Transac- 
tions of  the  Society  for  1900. 

118.  "Alcohol  and  Food.  Can  any  Substance  be  both 
Food  and  a  Poison,  etc.,  etc."  Bulletin  of  the  Am'erican  Med. 
Temperance  Association,  Jan.,  1901.     • 

119.  "Does  Alcohol  as  it  Exists  in  Fermented  and 
Distilled  Liquors  Prodt:ce  any  Real  Stimulating  or 
Restor-\tive  Effect  if  Given  in  Cases  of  Shock,  Syncope^ 
OR  Sudden  Prostilvtion  of  any  Kind?  If  not^  What  Reme- 
dies are  Most  Effectual  in  such  Cases?"  Transactions  of 
Kansas  State  Medical  Society  for  1901. 

120.  "Mental  Worry  AND  Nervous  Excitability  :  Their 
Effect  upon  all  the  Functions  of  the  Body,  and  on  the 
Duration  of  Life."    Chicago  Record-Herald,  April  nth,  1901. 

121.  "^^'HAT    are    the      MoST      EFFICIENT      REMEDIES      FOR 

Shock,  Syncope,  or  Temporary  Exhaustion;  and  how 
Should  they  be  Used?"  Journal  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical 
Association,  July,  1901. 

122.  "Old  Age,  and  How  to  Use  it  to  the  Best  Advant- 
age."    Chicago  Record-Herald,  May  23d,  1901. 

123.  "The  Tr.\ining  of  the  Physician — His    Responsi- 
,  bilities — and  Nature  of  His  Calling,  etc."    Record-Herald, 

July  5th,  1 90 1. 

124.  "On  the  Need  of  much  more  Accurate  Knowledge 
Concerning  both  the  Immediate  and  Remote  Effects  of 
THE  Remedial  Agents  in  General  Use,  and  the  Exercise 
OF  ]\IoRE  Care  to  Avoid  the  Coincident  Administration  of 
Antagonistic  Remedies  in  Acute  Disease."  Jom-nal  of  Amer. 
Med.  Association,  Vol.  38,  pp.  1415-1418,  May  31st,  1902. 

125.  "The  Relations  of  Alcohol  and  Alcoholic  Liquors 
TO  THE  Economic,   Sanitary,  and  Moral  Interests  of  the 


the  literary  records  of  a  busy  life  101 

Human  Family,  and  tfie  True  Principles  of  Legislation 
THAT  Should  Govern  their  Use."  Address  to  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Medical  Temperance  Association,  Saratoga, 
N.  Y.,  June  13th,  1902.  Published  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Ine- 
briety for  July,  1902,  and  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Med. 
Temp.  Association,  July,  1902. 

126.  "A  Brief  History  of  Medical  Journalism  in  Chi- 
cago TO  the  End  of  the  Nineteenth  Century."  Clinical 
Review,  of  Chicago,  September,  1902. 

127.  "The  Medical  Schools  and  Medical  Teachers  of 
Sixty  Years  Ago."  Medical  Standard,  of  Chicago,  for  Sep- 
tember, 1902. 

128.  "The  Proper  Use  of  Baths  for  the  Preservation 
OF  Health  and  the  Prolongation  of  Life."  Chicago  Record- 
Herald,  October  6th,  1902. 

129.  "To  Preserve  Vital  Force  and  Good  Circulation." 
Chicago  Record-Herald,  November  27th,  1902. 

130.  "Criticisms  of  the  Doctrine  of  'No  Breakfast 
Cure/  etc."    Chicago  Record-Herald,  December,  1902. 

131.  "Are  the  Questions  Relating  to  the  Nature, 
Effects,  Uses  and  Abuses  of  Alcohol  as  Existing  in  Fer-  . 

MENTED    AND    DiSTILLED    LlOUORS,    POLITICAL    QUESTIONS    TO    BE 

Settled  by  Votes  at  Ordinary  Elections  ;  or  are  they  True 
Questions  Concerning  the  Public  Health  and  Morals 
and  Therefore  to  be  Dealt  with  by  the  Sanitary  Author- 
ities and  the  Courts  of  Justice?"  Read  to  the  Amer.  Med. 
Temp.  Association,  May,  1903,,  and  published  in  Journal  of  Ine- 
briety, July,  1903. 

132.  "History  of  Medicine,  with  Code  of  Medical 
Ethics."  Published  by  the  Cleveland  Press,  Chicago,  1903. 
(Second  Edition,  1907.) 

133.  "Is  Alcoholic  Medication  Necessary?  In  Other 
Words,  is  Alcohol  as  it  Exists  in  Various  Fermented  and 
■Distilled  Liquors,  a  Necessary  Remeiw  in  the  Treatment 
OF  Diseases  .of  any  Kind,  or  in  any  Stage  of  Their 
Progress?"  Published  in  the  Pacific  Health  Journal  for  Jan., 
1904.. 

134.  "Why  has  the  Prevalence  of  Pneumonia  and  the 
Ratio  of  its  Mortaiity,  been  Increasing  During  the  Last 
Sixty  Years;  and  how  can  such  Increase  be  Obviated  and 


r02  THE  LITERARY  RECORDS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 

ITS  Ratio  of  ^Mortality  be  Decreased?"     Written  Dec,  1903. 

135.  "The  Effects  of  Tobacco  on  the  Human  System." 
Published  in  The  Life  Boat  for  February,  1904.  International 
Clinics,  Vol.  i,  p.  41,  14th  Series. 

136.  "On  the  True  Functions  of  the  Skin  and  Proper 
Bathing:  A  Criticism  of  the  Doctrine  of  'No  Bathing.'" 
Published  in  the  Chicago  Rccord-Hcrald,  ]\Iarch  i8th,  1904, 
page  6. 

Explanation  (by  Dr.  Davis)  :  The  foregoing  list  of  contributions  to 
Medical  Science,  Literature  and  Education,  do  not  include  any  editorials, 
reviews,  reports  of  clinics,  medical  society  proceedings,  etc.,  to  be  found  in 
almost  every  number  of  the  medical  journals  I  have  been  engaged  in 
editing  from  1848  to  the  present  time,  viz:  The  Analist ;  the  Northzvestern 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal;  Chicago  Medical  Journal ;  Chicago  Medical 
Examiner ;  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association ;  the  American 
Medical  Temperance  Quarterly;  and  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Medical 
Temperance  Association. 

Chicago,  111.,  ]\Iarch  20th,  1904. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Testimonial  Banquet  of  Oct.  5,  1901. 

Tlie  following  account*  of  this  interesting  occasion  can  neither  be 
omitted  nor  abbreviated,  without  doing  injustice  to  the  memory  of  the 
honored  guest,  and  to  those  who  participated: 

A  testimonial  banquet  was  given  to  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  the 
Father  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Nestor  of  the 
medical  profession,  first  editor  of  this  journal,  and  founder  of 
the  Mercy  Hospital,  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel,  Oct.  5,  1901, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society. 

The  event  was  a  grand  success.  Approximately  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  physicians  from  Chicago  and  various  parts  of  the 
countrv  attended  the  feast.  The  gathering  was  a  representa- 
tive one  and  typified  in  a  striking  manner  tlie  high  esteem  in 
which  Dr.  Davis  is  held  by  the  profession.  Cities  outside  of 
Chicago  were  well  represented.  The  tables  were  tastefully  dec- 
orated with  flowers.  .  The  speeches  were  timely,  replete  with 
good  thoughts,  characterized  by  zest,  and  interspersed  with  wit 
and  humor.  The  reminiscences  about  Dr.  Davis  were  fraught 
with  interest,  and  their  recital  by  Drs.  Andrews,  Waxham,  Hol- 
lister  and  Bridge  created  amusement. 

Dr.  Davis  sat  between  Drs.  Fenger  and  Billings,  the  one,, 
the  highest  embodiment  of  modern  surgical  pathology,  the  other, 
representing  all  that  is  progressive  and  modern  in  internal  medi- 
cine. After  the  banquet  Dr.  Christian  Fenger,  president  of  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society,  rapped  for  order,  and  introduced  Dr. 
James  H.  Stowell,  who  said  that  the  members  of  the  profession 
had  assembled  to  pay  their  respects  to  one  of  the  greatest  ex- 
amples of  professional  honor  and  dignity  in  the  medical  pro- 
fession. He  said  it  was  unnecessary  to  call  attention  to  the  many 
eminent  pupils  that  had  been  sent  out  under  the  instruction  of 
the  distinguished  guest.  The  Deans  of  three  of  the  largest 
medical  colleges  in  Chicago  were  pupils  of  Dr.  Davis.  Through- 
out the   country  graduates    from   the   Chicago   ]\Iedical    College 


■^Jour.  Am.  Med.  Assn.,  Oct.  12,  1901. 


I04  THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI 

were  occupying  positions  of  eminence,  and  among  them  were 
Drs.  Nicholas  Senn,  Norman  Bridge,  Frank  Billings,  Nathan 
Smith  Davis,  Jr.,  Arthur  R.  Edwards,  Roswell  Park,  John  A. 
Fordyce,  and  many  others,  who  had  in  some  way  or  other  been 
honored  by  their  professional  brethren. 

The  toastmaster  of  the  evening.  Dr.  Frank  Billings,  said  that 
to  preside  at  a  banquet  given  in  honor  of  Dr.  Davis  was  an 
honor  second  only  to  that  which  Dr.  Davis  was  receiving.  Dr. 
Davis  did  not  belong  to  Chicago  alone,  but  to  the  whole  country. 
Dr.  Davis  was  a  New  Yorker  by  birth,  was  born  Jan.  9,  1817, 
and  graduated  in  medicine  in  1837,  when  he  was  not  quite  21 
years  of  age,  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
the  Western  District  of  New  York.  He  then  practiced  medi- 
cine in  Binghamtoh,  N.  Y.,  for  about  ten  years,  and,  seeking 
wider  fields,  or  people  in  a  better  field  seeking  him,  he  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  remained  about  two  years.  Then 
Chicago,  always  looking  for  something  better,  found  Dr.  Davis 
there  and  invited  him  to  Chicago.  He  came  here  in  1849  ^.nd 
taught  in  Rush  Medical  College  for  the  next  ten  years.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  method  of  teaching  at  that  time,  and  desiring 
a  different  method  and  a  longer  course,  he,  with  others,  severed 
his  connection  with  that  school  and  founded  the  Chicago  Medi- 
cal College  in  1859.  He  said  that  the  history  of  Dr.  Davis  was 
known  to  all,  and  it  was  hardly  necessary  for  him  to  take  time 
in  repeating  it.  He  only  desired  to  say  that  Dr.  Davis  had  be- 
come known  throughout  the  whole  country  as  a  medical  teacher, 
as  a  lever  to  elevate  medical  education.  Practically,  it  was  due 
to  Dr.  Davis  that  the  first  steps  toward  a  better  method  of 
medical  education  were  taken  in  America,  and  it  was  he  and 
his  colleagues  who  instituted  the  graded  method  of  instruction 
in  medical  schools.  The  speaker  said  that  Dr.  Davis  and  his 
colleagues  had  not  received  the  credit  that  was  due  them  for 
this,  and  that  Eastern  medical  schools  had  taken  the  credit,  al- 
though they  had  adopted  the  graded  method  of  instruction 
afterwards.^  As  a  teacher  he  was  eminent.  Those  who  had  sat 
at  his  feet  and  had  listened  to  his  lectures  would  remember  as 
long  as  they  lived  his  graphic  description  of  disease,  even  in  a 
didactic  lecture.  When  it  came  to  the  demonstration  of  a  case, 
he  did  not  think  there  was  any  clinician  abroad  or  in  this  coun- 
try who  could  excel  Dr.  Davis  in  the  matter  of  clinical  teaching. 
The    work   of    Dr.    Davis    was    not   alone    confined    to    medical 


THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9GI  10; 

teaching,  for  it  was  through  his  efforts  that  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association  was  founded,  and  he  is  cahed  the  Father  of  the 
American  Medical  Association.  Dr.  Davis  was  the  founder  of 
Mercy  Hospital.  Dr.  Davis  has  been  president  of  the  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  and  the  only  American  who  was 
ever  president  of  an  international  medical  congress.  Dr.  Bill- 
ings then  dwelt  at  length  upon  some  of  the  chief  characteristics 
of  Dr.  Davis'  life,  among  which  were:  "Industry,  tenacity  of 
purpose,  integrity ;  progressiveness ;  liberality,  a  Christian  gen- 
tleman." 

Dr.  Edward  F.  Wells  presented  the  loving  cup  to  Dr.  Davis. 
He  said : 

"Honored  Sir  and  Guests:  In  behalf  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion of  Chicago  and  of  the  whole  country,  it  is  my  privilege  to 
present  to  you  this  loving  cup  as  a  token  of  the  esteem  in  which 
you  are  held  by  your  associates,  and  as  an  expression  of  their 
appreciation  of  your  valuable  labors  in  the  advancement  of  scien- 
tific, practical,  academic  and  social  medicine. 

"This  beautiful  cup,  of  Grecian  design,  is,  in  its  lines  and 
proportions,  a  model  of  simple,  vigorous  dignity,  and  was  se- 
lected as  being  peculiarly  emblematic  of  your  character  and 
career.  Engraved  upon  one  side  is  an  excellent  likeness  of  your- 
self; upon  another  is  the  leaf  of  victory,  and  beneath  it  the  in- 
scription, Palmam  qui  meruit  ferat — let  him  who  has  won  it 
bear  the  palm — and  beneath  this,  'Pioneer  in  local  and  national 
medical  organization,  and  in  graded  medical  instruction;'  and 
upon  the  other  is  this  memorial  tribute:  'Presented  to  Nathan 
Smith  Davis,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  in  recognition  of  his  long 
and  distinguished  services  to  medicine,  in  its  every  field  of  use- 
fulness, by  the  members  of  that  profession  which  he  has  so  con- 
spicuously adorned,  and  to  whose  shield  he  has  given  an  added 
luster.' 

"Few^  possess  the  creative  genius  necessary  to  initiate  great 
forward  movements  in  public  affairs,  and  fewer  yet  are  per- 
mitted to  see  the  realization  of  their  lofty  conceptions.  But 
you,  sir,  are  singularly  fortunate  in  both  these  respects;  and, 
now,  after  these  many  years,  you  may  stand  before  the  bow  of 
promise,  supported,  as  it  is,  upon  one  side  by  the  fathers  of 
medicine,  resting  upon  the  adamantine  foundations  of  experi- 
ence and  truth,  and  upon  the  other  by  the  moderns,   standing 


io6  THE  testi:moxial  baxouet  of  OCT.  5,  1901 

upon  the  broad  expanse  of  experiment  and  fact,  and,  looking 
throug'h,  view  with  satisfaction  the  fair  and  boundless  plains 
of  the  future  as  they  stretch  out  beyond." 

AMien  Dr.  Davis  arose  to  make  a  speech  accepting  the  loving 
cup,  he  was  greeted  with  loud  and  prolonged  applause,  and 
three  hurrahs  were  lustily  given  for  the  venerable  guest.  Dr. 
Davis  was  visibly  affected  by  the  ovation,  but  spoke  in  a  deliber- 
ate manner,  as  follows :  '"Mr.  Toastmaster,  and  Fellow  Mem- 
bers of  the  Aledical  Profession :  It  is  useless  for  me  to  say 
that  there  are  no  words  at  my  command  b}"  which  I  can  convey 
my  idea  of  the  gratitude  that  fills  my  soul  at  the  present  time. 
If  there  is  an}-  particular  thing  that  has  guided  my  course 
throug'h  life,  and  if  I  have  been  able  to  contribute  anything  of 
value  that  justifies  your  presence  and  this  most  generous  ex- 
hibition of  your  kindness  and  respect  to  me,  it  is  from  a  very 
simple  principle  of  action.  At  the  age  of  seven  years,  as  a  boy 
who  had  never  been  outside  of  his  father's  farm,  born  in  a  log 
bouse,  and  when  still  in  a  log  house,  I  was  called  to  the  bedside 
of  my  dying  mother  to  receive  her  last  words.  I  was  the  young- 
est of  a  family  of  seven  children ;  I  was  in  my  seventh  3^ear. 
It  made  a  vivid  impression  upon  m}'  mind.  She  was  a  Christian 
— a  reader  of  the  Bible.  .She  said  to  me  that  she  wished  me  to 
"be  a  good  boy,  to  learn  to  worship  God,  and  to  do  good  to  my 
fellow-men.  I  promised  her  I  would.  Of  course,  I  did  not 
realize  the  importance  or  bearing  of  that  promise  at  that  early 
period  of  life ;  but  an  impression  was  made  upon  my  mind,  and 
from  that  day  to  this  the  rule  of  my  life  'has  been,  that  whatever 
comes  up  that  seems  to  be  important  and  will  improve  my  fellow- 
men,  my  impulse  is  to  do  what  I  can  to  help  it  along.  (Ap- 
plause.) That  is  the  whole  foundation  of  it.  I  refused  to  un- 
dertake anything  the  results  of  which  would  not  be  beneficial  to 
those  around  me,  whatever  it  might  be.  The  question  was, 
Would  it  benefit  my  fellow-men?  If  it  would,  I  supported  it. 
I  refused,  on  the  other  hand,  to  lay  up  enmity  against  any  hu- 
man being,  and  to-day  I  stand  here  and  say  that  I  know  of  no 
man  or  woman  for  whom  I  have  an  evil  wish,  and  there  is  not 
one  to  whom  I  would  not  extend  a  helping  hand  at  any  moment 
if  they  were  within  my  reach  and  needed  it.     (Applause.) 

"On  this  principle  of  action  and  reading  the  book  that  my 
mother  pointed  to  and  taught  me  to  read,  there  was  revealed  a 
habit  that  in  old  times  the  patriarchs  often  formed  a  convenant 


THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI  .    IO7 

with  their  God,  and  in  my  innocent  early  boyhood,  as  I  grew 
on,  a  proposition  was  made  for  me  to  study  medicine.  I  no 
sooner  began  than  I  formed  a  convenant  with  my  Creator,  that 
he  would  guide  me,  so  that  I  could  be  qualified  to  do  good  to 
the  sick,  to  alleviate  human  suffering,  and  to  prolong  human 
life.  I  dedicated  my  life  to  that  great  leading  idea,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  I  have  striven  to  follow  in  that  line. 

"It   was   not   long   before   I    stumbled   on   the   fact   that  the 
system  of  medical  education  was  a  very  ridiculous  one,   for  I 
went  each  year  to  the  college  and  went  over  the  same  thing — 
six   lectures    a   week,   and   skimmed   the   whole   field   in   sixteen 
weeks.     I  thought  that  was  very  queer.     I  listened  to  these  lec- 
tures every  day,  but  studied  only  three  of  them.     I  left  the  other 
three  for  next  year  to  make  up.     I  made  my  own  division.     As 
soon  as  I  graduated  and  got  into  practice,  in  about  three  years 
I  was  a  delegate  to  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society.     The 
first  thing  I  did  was  to  introduce  a  series  of  resolutions  that  the 
term  of  medical  education  ought  to  be  extended  to  not  less  than 
six   months,   at  least,   and  the   course  of   instruction   should  be 
graded.      I   was   criticised   for  this,   and    the    resolutions    were 
promptly  laid  on  the  table.     The  gentleman  who  made  the  mo- 
tion to  lay  the  resolutions  on  the  table  happened  to  be  a  professor 
in  the  medical  school  from  which  I  graduated.     There  was  one 
man  there  who  seconded  the  resolutions  that  were  laid  on  the 
table.     I  hunted  him  out,  and  had  an  earnest  conversation  with 
him  regarding  the  resolutions,  and  I  said  something  to  the  effect 
that  if  this  was  the  way  they  were  going  to  serve  any  measures 
that  I  might  bring' before  the  convention,  I  should  not  travel  by 
old-fashioned  stage  coaches  from  Binghamton  to  Albany  many 
times  to  attend  an  association  on  such  a  basis.     The  professor, 
who  introduced  the  resolutions,  had  heard  the  substance  of  our 
conversation,  and  after  he  had  taken  his  dinner  and  the  associa- 
tion   reconvened,    he    moved   to   take    the    resolutions    from    oft' 
the  table.     This  permitted  one  hour's  discussion,  and  by  means 
of  this  discussion  we  gained  time  enough  to  have  them  referred 
to  a  committee  and  to  postpone  the  resolutions  for  renewed  dis- 
cussion until  the  following  year.     The  next  year  we  discussed 
them  again,  and  the  fight  was  continued  until   it  amounted  to 
this,  that  we  were  having  a  standard  of  education  in  New  York 
as  high  as  it  was  in  any  other  medical   college  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  if  we  undertook  to  make  a  six  months'  term, 


I08  THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET   OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI 

graded  courses,  the  only  effect  would  be  to  send  students  to 
Boston  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  Philadelphia  on  the  other,  and 
we  would  benefit  nobody.  But  how  were  we  to  get  out  of  this? 
If  one  state  can  not  move  a  peg  without  the  rest,  let  us  have 
the  rest,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  have  a  national  meet- 
ing of  all  the  institutions  for  that  purpose.  The  resolution  was 
seconded,  and  after  a  minute  or  two  of  silence,  and  a  little 
laughter,  it  was  easy  for  them  to  see  that  Davis  did  not  want 
to  fool  away  his  time,  and  they  said  let  him  work.  And  so 
they  passed  the  resolution  for  a  national  convention  and  ap- 
pointed me  chairman  of  the  committee  to  carry  it  out.  I  did 
carry  it  out,  and  the  result  you  know.  I  do  not  need  to  tell 
3-0U  about  it;  you  know  it;  that  is  the  secret  of  the  story.  It 
was  not  my  planning;  it  was  simply  done  on  the  principle  of 
doing  right  and  sticking  to  the  right  whenever  an  opportunity 
occurs.  It  is  just  so  in  regard  to  introducing  any  other  thing 
that  I  have  helped.  It  is  simply  the  opportunit3^  I  go  into 
it,  and  I  know  no  other  way  to  accomplish  it.  I  have  no  con- 
trivance about  it.  It  is  simply  to  do  what  comes  before  me, 
and  do  it  with  all  my  heart.  I  don't  want  to  make  any  half- 
way work  of  it.  Dr.  Billings  has  said  that  when  I  took  hold 
of  a  thing  I  never  let  loose.  Why  should  I?  My  old  friend, 
A.  B.  Palmer,  said  once  that  I  had  been  harping  at  the  same 
thing  for  twenty  years.  M}^  only  answer  to  him  was,  'If  it  is 
rig^ht  and  will  benefit  mankind,  harp  on  it  not  only  twent}-,  but 
forty  years,  until  it  is  done.' 

''My  friends,  I  don't  want  to  tire  you  by  reciting  details. 
Please  accept  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this  demonstration. 
It  will  probably  be  the  last  time  I  shall  have  an  opportunity 
to  address  you.  But  if  you  want  to  promote  harmony,  cor- 
diality, advancement ;  if  you  want  to  build  up,  stop  pulling 
down  anybody.  Never  pull  down,  but  build  up,  and  if  your 
neighbor  does  not  do  as  you  think  he  ought  to  do,  talk  about 
his  good  qualities,  and  let  his  bad  ones  go.  You  will  soon  es- 
tablish harmony;  you  will  soon  have  cordiality;  you  will  have 
3'our  own  heart  free,  and  your  conscience  will  be  right  before 
your  God.  You  will  have  neither  enemies  here  nor  hereafter. 
I  know  no  enemies  to-night ;  I  have  no  enmities ;  I  am  satisfied 
with  life. 

"I  am  sometimes  lonesome  because  I  so  rarely  meet  one  of 
my  early  comrades — lonesome  because  they  are  gone.     But  I  am 


THE    TESTIMONIAL    BAXOUET    OF    OCT.    =,,    iqOl  I09 

going  to  join  them  before  long.  I  do  not  expect  to  tan"\-  a 
great  while.  But  I  have  no  care  about  that.  I  live  so  that  I 
am  ready  each  day  to  g'o.  I  have  no  settlements  to  make ;  I 
have  no  great  fortune  to  give  away ;  I  have  got  enough  for  my 
comforts,  enough  to  clothe  and  feed  me  as  long  as  I  live.  That 
is  all  I  want.  I  would  not  die  worth  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars ;  I  should  be  afraid  I  had  not  done  my  duty." 

Of  course  it  will  be  remembered  that  Dr.  Davis'  remarks 
were  wholly  extemporaneous,  no  notes  whatever  being  used  by 
him. 

Dr.  Charles  A.  L.  Reed,  of  Cincinnati,  was  then  introduced, 
and  responded  to  the  toast,  "The  American  Physician." 
Born  to  carve  his  name 
Upon  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame. 

Dr.  Reed  said  in  part:  "It  is  appropriate  that  the  American 
physician  should  be  toasted  at  this  festal  board,  around  which 
are  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  great  republic,  American 
physicians  who  have  come  to  honor  one  of  their  most  dis- 
tinguished and  venerable  living  colleagues.  To  me  has  been 
assigned  the  pleasant  task  of  responding  to  this  toast.  That 
duty  would  be  easily  discharged  if  T  were  simply  to  speak  of 
the  ideal  characteristics  of  the  American  physician ;  for  if  I 
were  to  thus  confine  my  remarks  and  speak  only  of  birth,  of 
education,  of  scientific  attainments,  of  the  lofty  ideals  of  char- 
acter, of  the  exemplification  of  Christian  virtue,  it  would  be 
necessary  for  me  to  only  stand  mutely  in  your  presence  and 
point  to  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  evening.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  appropriate  for  us  to  consider  the  American  physician 
from  a  concrete  standpoint.  If  we  were  to  consider  him  from 
his  starting  point,  we  must  recognize  the  xA-merican  physician 
at  the  time  when  the  American  physician  was  not  an  American 
physician.  When,  in  other  words,  he  was  a  distinct  European 
product,  practicing  medicine  upon  the  Western  Continent. 
This  was  true  in  our  Colonial  period,  but  with  the  birth  of 
nationality,  there  was  also  the  birth  of  the  American  physician, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  medical  school  in  the  United 
States  was  an  associated  incident  of  the  creation  of  the  Ameri- 
can physician.  But  the  primitive  medical  school  of  America, 
like  the  original  physician  that  stood  as  the  type  of  the 
faculty  of  that  institution,  was  largely  of  exotic  origin.  We 
devoted  ourselves  at  that  time  to  the  teaching  of  science  as  it 
had  been  discovered,  taught  and  amplified  in  foreign  countries. 


no  THE    TESXmOXIAL    LAXOL'ET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI 

English  influence  was  dominant :  French  influence  was  pro- 
nounced ;  German  influence  had  no  footing  at  that  time  in 
America.  But  with  the  succeeding  generations,  the  American 
physician  became  an  estabhshed  fact,  a  product  of  our  schools, 
and  we  found  him  exemplifying,  even  in  that  early  day,  those 
attributes  which  have  characterized  the  practitioner  of  medi- 
cine of  this  continent — independence  of  thought,  independence 
of  action,  vet  always  in  conformity  with  the  overriding,  over- 
powering influence  of  law,  not  statutory  law,  of  which  there 
was  none,  but  of  those  eternal  laws  that  make  for  good,  that 
make  for  truth,  that  make  for  happiness.  But  in  the  carrying 
out  of  these  fundamental  principles  the  American  physician 
early  dethroned  personal  authority  and  became  an  actor  upon 
a  scale  of  independence  that  has  but  rarely  characterized  the 
profession  in  other  countries.  .  .  .  American  medicine  has 
added  to  the  great  sum  of  our  knowledge.  Science  has  been 
evolved  by  those  practitioners  in  the  remoter  districts  and  towns. 
McDowell,  in  his  little  village  in  Kentucky ;  Sims,  in  the  little 
town  in  Alabama :  Battey.  in  the  little  village  in  Georgia ;  AA'ells, 
with  his  anesthesia  in  the  little  town  of  Xew  Haven — all  of 
them  far  removed  from  the  influence  of  the  schools — brought 
to  the  light  of  humanit_\-  those  great  truths  which  have  done  so 
much  to  relieve  suflrering  humanity  and  to  prolong  human  life.'' 
After  referring  to  the  struggle  of  physicians  in  the  early  days. 
Dr.  Reed  concluded  as  follov.'s:  "But  little  needs  to  be  said 
for  the  American  physician ;  from  seaboard  to  seaboard,  from 
lake  to  gulf,  in  everv  hamlet,  he  ministers  to  stricken  humanity, 
and  let  me  venture  the  belief  that  the  .\merican  physician  in  the 
aggregate,  wherever  found,  is  actuated  largely  by  those  same 
motives,  by  those  same  deeply-rooted  sentiments  that  Dr.  Davis 
imbibed  at  the  bedside  of  his  dying  mother.  Let  us,  therefore, 
with  all  honor  speak,  not  egotistically  of  ourselves,  but  of  that 
great,  typical  character  that  we  are  constantly  endeavoring  to 
emulate,  the  American  physician,  than  whom  there  stands  before 
the  American  public,  there  stands  before  the  world,  no  more 
distinguished  or  worthy  exemplar  than  Xathan  Smith  Davis." 
(Loud  and  prolonged  applause.) 

Dr.    Donald    ^Maclean,   of   Detroit.    ]\Iich.,    responded    to    the 
toast,  "'International  Medicine." 

For  the  whole  world  is  a  stage — 

Let  us  hear  of  the  acting. 


THE    TESTIMONIAL    T.ANOUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI  III 

He  said  he  felt  it  was  a  great  privilege  to  be  present  and 
take  part  in  the  exercises  of  the  evening,  and  to  pay  his  respects 
to  his  old  and  venerable  and  highly-respected  friend,  Dr.  Davis. 
(Applause.)  The  subject  of  international  medicine  was  one 
that  reminded  him  of  the  lines  written  by  one  of  the  profes- 
-sion,  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  who  said : 

''As  Life's  unending  column  pours, 

Two  marshaled  hosts  are  seen — 

Two  armies  on  the  trampled  shores 

That  Death  flows  back  between. 

One  marches  to  the  drum-beat's  roll. 

The  wide-mouthed  clarion's  bray. 

And  bears  upon  a  crimson  scroll, 

'Our  glory  is  to  slay.' 

One  moves  in  silence  by  the  stream. 

With  sad,  yet  watchful  eyes, 

Calm,  as  the  patient  planet's  gleam 

That  walks  the  clouded  skies. 

Along  its  front  no  sabres  shine. 

No  blood-red  pennons  wave ; 

Its  banner  bears  the  single  line, 

'Our  duty  is  to  save.'  " 
He   thought   the   above   verses   represented   truly   and   fairly 
international  medicine.     The  profession  could  never  repay   Dr. 
Davis,  nor  individually  express  their  gratitude  for  what  he  had 
-done,  and  we  could  say  with  the  poet,  Burns: 
""The  bridegroom  may  forget  the  bride  whom  he's  to  wed; 
The  monarch  may  forget  his  crown ; 
The  mother  may  forget  the  child  that  smiles  so  sweetly  on  her 

knee ; 
But  I  remember  thee,  Glencairn,  and  all  that  thou  has  done  for 
me." 
Reminiscences  of  Dr.  Davis  were  related  by  Drs.   John  H. 
Hollister,    Frank    X.    Waxhain,    Norman    Bridge,   and   Edmund 
iVndrews. 

The  toast,  "Western  Medicine,"  was  responded  to  by  Dr. 
Archibald  Church,  who,  among  other  things,  said:  "We  do 
not,  for  a  moment,  think  of  Trousseau  as  hampered  by  the  walls 
of  Paris;  or  Sydenham  confined  by  the  geography  of  London; 
nor  Graves  hampered  by  the  purlieus  of  Dublin ;  or  Flint  cooped 
-up  in  the  Island  of  Manhattan;  nor  is  Davis  limited  to  the  con- 


112  THE    TESTIMONIAL   BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI 

fines  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  It  is  our  privilege  to-night;  it  is 
the  privilege  of  the  profession  of  America — nay,  more,  it  is  the 
privilege  of  the  profession  of  the  entire  world — to  read  in  the 
galaxy  of  clinical  masters  the  name  of  Nathan  Smith  Davis." 

(Loud  applause.) 

Dr.  Mctor  C.  Vaughan,  of  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  responded  to 
the  toast,  "Medical  Education." 

"Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers." 

How,  then,  can  best  be  told 
"The  fairy  tales  of  science,  and  the  long 
Result  of  time?" 

]\Iedical  education  in  this  countr}',  even  at  its  best,  is  in 
a  somewhat  chaotic  state.  He  had  heard  a  great  deal  about 
the  elective  system  in  medical  education,  by  which  the  student 
was  allowed  to  select  courses  and  take  them  in  whatever  man- 
ner he  chose.  Most  of  the  leading  literary  colleges  in  this  coun- 
try had  adopted  the  elective  system ;  some  of  the  medical  col- 
leges had  also  adopted  it.  He  thought  it  was  in  consonance  with 
American  ways,  namely,  that  every  young  man  should  have  his 
choice,  and  that  the  man  beginning  the  study  of  medicine  had 
more  wisdom  than  the  man  who  taught  it.  After  referring 
to  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  elective  system  of 
medical  education,  the  peroration  of  Dr.  Vaughan  was  as  fol- 
lows :  "Honored  and  Most  Worthy  Guest :  AVe  come  together 
to-night  from  near  and  from  afar  to  give  to  you  some  outward 
token  of  our  honor  and  esteem,  and  we  have  for  you,  who  to- 
night has  been  fittingly  called  the  Nestor  of  American  Medi- 
cine, the  greatest  of  respect.  For  more  than  threescore  years 
you  have  labored  diligently,  worthily  and  successfully  in  our 
profession.  Your  life  has  been  to  us  both  an  example  and  in- 
spiration. To  many  here  to-night  and  t,o  thousands  of  others 
scattered  over  this  broad  country  you  haA^e  been  a  beloved 
teacher  and  an  admired  master.  To  all  of  us  you  have  been 
and  are  still  a  respected  older  brother,  and  an  honored  friend. 
Your  words  have  always  fallen  upon  grateful  ears ;  your  deeds 
have  ever  been  witnessed  by  approving  eyes,  and  your  friend- 
ship is  cherished  in  many  a  loving  heart.  In  our  busy  adminis- 
trations to  the  sick;  in  our  ceaseless  search  for  truth  in  the 
laboratory,  we  seldom  have  the  opportunity  of  expressing  our 
appreciation  for  one  another.  But  so  great  and  so  helpful  has 
been  the  service  that  you  have  rendered  to  us,   your  younger 


THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI  II3 

iDrothers,  that  to-night  we  have  come,  la3'ing-  aside  our  daily 
tasks,  to  offer  to  you  a  tribute  of  our  love  and  admiration.  Life 
is  a  mystery  which  it  has  not  been  given  to  man  to  solve.  We 
know  not  whence  we  came,  nor  can  we  name  the  land  to  which 
we  journey.  But  we  do  know,  that  he  who  lends  a  helping  hand 
to  his  fellow-men,  as  we  travel  along  life's  dusty  and  stony  path- 
way, is  a  benefactor  of  his  race. 

"There  is  a  Hindu  legend  which  accounts  for  the  origin  of 
our  profession  in  something  like  the  following  manner:  An 
intelligent  Indian  prince  in  the  time  long  ago  sought  one  of  the 
most  renowned  temples  of  Buddha,  and  prostrating  himself* 
upon  the  floor  he  prayed  fervently  and  said,  'How  can  I  best 
serve  my  Maker?'  As  he  lay  prostrate  on  the  floor  he  felt  a  . 
touch  upon  his  shoulder  as  lig'ht  as  that  of  a  babe,  and  he  heard 
a  silvery  voice,  saying,  'Arise !'  He  arose,  and  there  stood  be- 
fore him  a  beautiful  angel,  who  said:  'Dost  thou  serve  thy 
God  ?  And  he  replied,  'Yes.'  'Then,  go  serve  thy  fellow-man ; 
administer  to  the  sick,  heal  the  afflicted;  help  those  who  are 
in  distress.'  And  thus  the  medical  profession  had  its  origin. 
Our  worthy  guest  to-night  is  almost  an  ideal  of  that  Indian 
prince  of  whom  this  legend  tells.  May  he  have  many  worthy 
successors." 

Dr.  Hobart  A.  Hare,  of  Philadelphia,  responded  to  the  toast, 
"Literary  Medicine." 

The  last  discovered  fact; 

The  winnowed  grain  of  thought. 

Vividly  portrayed  in  undying  characters 

By  the  art  Divine. 
He  said  that  as  he  sat  at  the  table  this  evening  he  could  not 
help  thinking  that  he,  one  of  the  youngest,  if  not  the  youngest 
speaker  to-night,  should  bring  from  the  effete  East  a  graceful 
tribute  of  admiration  to  the  honored  guest  of  the  evening.  He 
thought  it  was  a  triumph  for  the  so-called  Western  profession, 
which,  after  all,  was  not  the  Western  profession  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  reason  that  every  portion  of  this  great  country 
had  sent  by  mail  or  by  wire  and  by  personal  representation 
some  one  who  bore  a  portion  at  least  of  the  loving  cup  to  Dr. 
Davis. 

Speaking  to  the  toast,  "Literary  Medicine,"  he  said  that  there 
^was  far  more  in  it  than  some  thought.  It  enabled  the  mem- 
bers of  the  medical  profession  to  compare  notes  and  ideas.     It 


114  THE    TESTIMONIAL    BANQUET    OF    OCT.    5,    IQOI 

improved  the  culture  of  men  who  wrote  articles,  and  it  im- 
proved the  culture  and  learning-  of  those,  as  a  rule,  who  read 
those  articles,  but  not  always.  In  The  Journal  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association  we  had  a  great  exemplar  of  what 
literary  medicine  should  be.  Literary  medicine  was  in  close 
touch  with  medical  education.  It  taught  a  large  body  of  medi- 
cal men  to  be  general  practitioners,  and  not  to  start  out  as  spe- 
cialists as  soon  as  they  had  graduated.  A  great  trouble  with  the 
medical  profession  of  to-day  is  that  there  are  too  many  men 
going  into  specialties  because  they  knew  nothing  about  ordinary 
medicine.  Some  one  had  well  said:  "I  sought  Happiness,  and 
she  constantly  fled  before  me;  weary,  I  turned  to  Duty's  path, 
and  Happiness  sought  me.''  It  seemed  to  the  speaker  that  Dr. 
Davis  was  a  conspicuous  example  of  that  phrase.  .  .  .  We- 
honor  Dr.  Davis  because  he  represents  to  us  professional 
ethics ;  because  he  represents  to  us  duty  well  done ;  because  he- 
represents  to  us  that  greatest  of  all  things,  a  great  teacher ;  more- 
than  this,  he  carries  with  him,  day  by  day,  the  thoughts  of  the- 
minds  and  hearts  of  many  more  than  are  assembled  here  to- 
night, and  he  feels  in  his  inner  consciousness  that  he  has 
achieved  some  things  of  which  not  only  he  is  proud,  but  we 
are  proud,  and  the  American  medical  profession  is  proud.  And 
therefore  I  repeat,  as  the  representative  of  the  so-called  efifete 
East,  which  has  gained  so  much  from  the  brawn  and  sinew  of 
the  mighty  West,  I  come  to-night  to  lay  before  you  in  your- 
presence  the  loving  tribute  of  our  Eastern  profession. 

Dr.  Edwin  Ricketts,  of  Cincinnati,  after  referring  to  the- 
good  qualities  of  Dr.  Davis,  expressed  the  hope  that  he  might- 
yet  be  spared  to  see  many  years. 

The  last  toast  was  responded  to  by  Dr.  Robert  H.  Babcock,. 
of  Cbicago,  it  being,  "The  Physician  in  Pubhc  Affairs." 

"For  who  is  better  fitted  to  study  and  correct  the  pathologic 
body  politic?" 

The  speaker  thought  it  was  strange  that  physicians  should 
be  loth  to  enter  politics  lest  they  became  defiled  thereby,  but 
he  held  that  there  was  no  class  of  individuals  in  the  community 
who  were  so  suitable  to  engage  in  public  affairs  as  physicians. 
In  the  words  of  the  toast,  "Who  is  so  suitable  to  study  and  cor- 
rect the  pathologic  body  politic?"  Let  the  physician  enter  the 
field  of  politics,  that  he  may  curette  away  the  i>art  that  is  rotten. 
There  was  an  ample  field  for  the  influence  of  medical  men  in 


THE    'JEST-'MONIAL    I!AN(jL"E'|-    OK    OC'l'.    5,     I'jOi:  II5 

a  quiet  way  in  political  campaigns.  We  bad  an  example  of 
this  in  Kentucky,  where  the  physicians  throughout  the  State, 
by  exerting  their  influence  in  a  quiet  way  u])on  the  i);i]iticians 
of  the  State,  had  rendered  it  impossible  for  a  quack  to  prac- 
tice or  to  advertise  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  All  honor  to 
the  State  of  Kentucky.  He  said  we  bad  among  us  some  mem- 
bers of  the  medical  profession  who  were  engaged  in  political 
matters  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  proper  legislation 
along  the  right  lines  to  curtail  the  so-called  practice  of  medi- 
cine by  quacks,  charlatans,  faith-healers,  etc.  There  was  ample 
room  for  the  influence  of  physicians.  But  even  if  the  physician 
had  some  ambition  to  hold  office,  it  was  right  that  he  should, 
provided  that  his  motives  were  pure.  Physicians  were  needed 
in  legislatures,  not  to  support  anti-vivisection  laws,  like  Senator 
Gallinger,  but  to  fight  anti-vivisection  laws,  to  fight  anti-vaccina- 
tion laws,  and  to  obtain  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  public 
health.  Perhaps  the  most  brilliant  example  of  the  physician  in 
politics  is  Rudolph  Virchow.  What  shall  we  say  of  our  great 
American  physician,  Benjamin  Rush?  He  was  not  only  a  great 
physician,  but  he  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  to  consider  the  ex- 
pediency of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  had  the  honor 
of  reporting  favorably  upon  the  Declaration,  and  it  is  thoueht 
that  many  of  the  phrases  used  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
emanated  from  Rush.  Had  he  not  won  undying  renown  as  a 
physician,  he  would  have  been  immortal  as  a  signer  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence.  The  speaker  said  that  there  had  been 
Dthers  and  were  others  to-day  who  were  engaged  in  public  aflrairs 
not  only  with  credit  to  themselves,  but  with  honor  to  the  medi- 
cal profession,  and  to  the  welfare  of  their  State.  Some  of  these 
occupied  comparatively  insignificant  positions,  perhaps,  but  thev 
were  doing  good  work. 

Dr.  Babcock,  after  referring  to  the  good  work  that  had  been 
done  by  Dr.  Davis  in  public  afifairs,  concluded  by  saying:  "As 
an  alumnus  of  the  old  Chicago  Medical  College,  I  call  on  ^ou 
to  rise,  and,  in  that  beverage  which  Dr.  Davis  loves  and  has 
continued  to  pledge  his  life,  drink  to  his  health." 

At  this  juncture  the  entire  audience  arose,  put  the  glasses  to 
their  lips,  and,  after  the  following  sentiment  expressed  by  Dr. 
Davis,  drank  to  his  health:  "Pure  water,  Nature's  universal 
aseptic ;   it   disorders   no   man's    brain ;   it  fills    no    asylums    or 


Il6  THE    TESimOXIAL    TIAXOUET    OF    OCT.    5,    I9OI 

prisons;  it  begets  no  anarchy,  but  it  sparkles  in  the  dew-drop, 
it  glows  in  the  peaceful  rainbow,  and  flows  in  the  river  of  life 
close  bv  the  throne  of  God.  Let  us  take  it,  not  only  as  guests 
here,  but  for  the  whole  profession  of  America."" 

^lanv  highly  complimentary  letters  were  read  from  members 
of  the  profession  not  able  to  attend. 

The  audience  then  arose  and  sang  '•Auld  Lang  Syne." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Religious  and  Church  Life;  Last  Days. 

On  his  mother's  side,  Nathan  Smith  Davis  was  a  "hereditary"  Chris- 
tian. We  have  already  spoken  of  that  pathetic  death-bed  scene,  when  his 
dying  mother  charged  him  to  "be  a  good  boy  and  read  the  Bible,"  and  wc 
have  had  occasion  to  observe,  again  and  again,  how  deeply  these  solemn 
words  impressed  the  child,  then  but  seven  years  old,  and  how  closely  he  fol- 
lowed the  maternal  injunction  in  after  life.  It  seems  very  clear,  from  all 
the  information  obtainable,  that  young  Davis'  mother  was  not  only  a  deeply 
religious  woman,  but  also  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  abihty,  and  that 
she  was  largely  blessed  with  the  supreme  gift  of  "common  sense,"  an  en- 
dowment which  young  Nathan  had  the  happiness  to  inherit,  in  large  de- 
gree. 

Just  how  he  passed  his  early  childhood  we  do  not  certainly  know,  nor 
do  we  know  what  religious  iufluences  may,  or  may  not,  have  been  thrown 
around  him  during  those  early  years,  but  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age,  he  attended  a  single  term  of  the  Cazenovia  Academy,  an  excellent 
school,  under  the  care  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  those  days 
the  denominational  schools,  and  especially  those  schools  which  were  under 
the  charge  of  the  "EvangeHcal"  churches,  made  strenuous  efforts  to  secure 
the  "conversion"  of  their  students,  and  their  enrollment  as  members  of  the 
church  with  which  the  school  was  affiliated.  It  is  very  probable  that  young 
Davis  may  have  been  persuaded  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion  formally, 
after  his  arrival  at  Cazenovia,  but  we  have  no  evidence  on  that  point,  pro 
or  con.  But  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  school  was  a  religious  one,  au'l 
the  doctrine  of,  and  necessity  for  "experimental"  religion,  was  insisted  upon 
with  far  more  emphasis  than  it  is  at  the  present  day. 

But  whatever  the  explanation  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  our  Cazenovia 
student  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  that  place,  and  that  he 
remained  an  active  member  of  that  denomination  through  his  entire  life. 
When  he  went  to  Binghamton  to  practice  medicine,  he  transferred  his 
membership  to  the  Methodist  Church  in  that  town ;  when  he  went  from 
Binghamton  to  New  York  City,  with  the  expectation  of  spending  his  days 
there,  he  transferred  his  church  membership  to  New  York.  When,  in 
1849,  he  removed  his  residence  to   Chicago,  he  at  once  joined  the   First 


Il8  RELIGIOUS    AXD    CHURCH    LIFE;    LAST    DAYS 

Alethodist  Church  of  Chicago,  at  tlie  southeast  corner  of  Clark  and  Wash- 
ington streets,  as  his  residence  was  then  adjacent  to  that  church.  .-V  few 
vears  later  he  removed  to  \A'abash  avenue  near  the  Wabash  Avenue  }detho- 
dist  Church,  which  he  joined  by  transfer  from  the  First  Church.  After 
a  few  more  years,  he  transferred  his  residence  and  church  membership  to 
Evanston,  and  lastly  when  he  returned  to  the  city,  and  took  up  his  residence 
on  the  North  Side  of  Chicago,  he  brought  his  church  letter  and  joined  the 
Grace  ^I.  E.  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member  until  he  joined  the  Church 
Triumphant,  from  whence  no  one  has  ever  been  known  to  ask  for  a  trans- 
fer. Such  are  the  cold  and  formal  facts  in  regard  to  Dr.  Davis'  church 
membership,  covering  a  period  of  70  vears,  but  they  tell  nothing  in  regard 
to  his  religious  life,  its  activities,  its  self-denials,  its  philanthropies,  and, 
above  all,  its  deep,  although  undemonstrative,  spiritual  experiences. 

Christianity  assumes  different  types  or  forms  in  different  individuals. 
Some  Christians  have  deeply  emotional  lachrymal  glands,  but  very  unsym- 
pathetic check  books  ;  others  are  quite  accessible  by  the  check  book  route, 
but  have  no  use  for  the  church  or  its  institutions ;  others  are  profoundly 
stirred  over  the  miseries  of  the  heathen  of  Borrioboola-Gha,  but  are  quite 
oblivious  of  the  weak  and  hungry  orphans  under  their  very  noses,  and  there 
are  plenty  of  putative  Christians  who  "Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep 
it  holy,"  but  are  very  unholy  from  ]\Ionday  morning  till  Saturday  night. 
Dr.  Davis  belonged  to  none  of  these  classes  :  his  v.'hole  life  was  a  religious 
life,  but  it  was  an  every-day  religion  that  did  not  wilt  or  wither  when  ex- 
posed to  the  attrition  of  daily  contact  with  the  world  and  its  people.  It 
did  not  require  the  stimulus  of  a  periodical  "revivar'  to  keep  his  religion 
from  dying  of  inanition.  He  was  neither  subject  to  spiritual  plethora  or 
spiritual  anaemia.  He  was  eminently  successful  as  a  Sunday  School  teacher, 
especially  during  his  residence  in  Evanston,  where  university  and  theological 
students  flock  from  all  parts  of  the  country  It  used  to  be  the  special  de- 
light of  these  bright  and  scholarly  yotmg  men  to  get  themselves  enrolled 
in  Dr.  Davis'  Sunday  School  class,  and  I  have  been  told  that  he  had  at 
one  time  the  largest  Bible  class  that  was  ever  gathered  in  Evanston,  a  place 
so  famous  for  its  students  of  Biblical  lore.  I  have  also  been  informed  that 
his  knowledge  of  the  scriptures,  and  especially  of  the  Old  Testament  canon, 
was  singularly  broad  and  comprehensive.  Of  course,  if  he  tried  expotmding 
the  Bible  at  all,  it  need  not  be  said  that  it  was  done  exhaustive!}'  and 
thoroughly.  The  admirable  address  of  the  late  Bishop  Alerrill  at  the  Mem- 
orial Service  noted  elsewhere*  gives  a  thorough  analysis  of  Dr.  Davis'  re- 
ligious belief,  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  authoritative,  as  the  Bishop  knew 
him    intimatelv. 


A^ide  Chapter  XV. 


RELIGIOUS    AND    CHURCH    LIFE;    LAST    DAVS  II9 

The  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  clnn-cli,  Ijdth  liome  anrl  foreign,  re- 
ceived his  systematic  support,  for  Dr.  Davis'  "conversion"'  inckuled  his  head, 
his  heart  and  his  pocket. 

It  is  hard  to  frame  a  just  estimate  of  such  a  Christian,  for  language 
has  its  limits,  and  the  mind  of  man  soon  gets  beyond  its  depth,  when  it  tries 
to  measure  the  possibilities  of  the  soul  of  man  ;  but  there  is  something  won- 
derfully inspiring  and  exalting  in  the  contemplation  of  the  calm,  constant, 
unswerving  Christian  life  of  Dr.  X.  S.  Davis. 

With  the  close  of  the  final  session  of  the  iiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  in  Philadelphia  in  ]\'[ay,  1897 — the  so-called 
"Jubilee  Meeting" — Dr.  Davis'  public  life  practically  came  to  an  end.  He 
was  then  eighty  years  old,  and  the  infirmities  incident  to  age  were  creeping 
upon  him.  He  returned  to  Chicago,  resumed  his  office  practice,  but  prac- 
tically withdrew  from  public  life,  and  to  a  large  extent  from  active  life. 
He  made  three  or  four  brief  extemporaneous  addresses,  like  the  one  de- 
livered at  a  complimentary  banc[uet  and  printed  in  a  preceding  chapter, 
but  his  activities  were  mainly  confined  to  his  office,  and  an  occasional  lec- 
ture before  the  students  of  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School. 
In  June,  1898,  he  sent  in  his  resignation  as  Dean  of  the  Medical  School. 
and  thereafter  sustained  an  "emeritus"  relation  only,  so  that  he  could  be 
relieved  of  the  active  work.  About  this  time  he  tried  to  resign  his  position 
as  Senior  Physician  to  Mercy  Hospital,  but  as  Sister-vSuperior  Raphael  says, 
"I  would  not  let  him."  Most  of  us  teachers  of  a  bygone  age  had  easier 
times  resigning  our  positions  than  did  Dr.  Davis.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
said  somewhere  that  "to  take  things  easy  is  one  of  the  prerogatives  of  old 
age,"  and  this  is  just  what  Dr.  Davis  did,  comparatively  speaking,  but  in 
that  sense  only.  As  compared  with  the  intense  activity  which  characterized 
nearly  all  his  life,  his  last  three  or  four  years  might  seem  like  "taking  things 
easy" ;  but  as  compared  with  the  lives  of  most  post-octogenarians,  his  life 
would  not  conform  to  the  ideal  of  the  genial  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast 
Table. 

The  venerable  doctor  was  a  very  much  respected — nay,  revered — man 
in  Chicago  during  his  last  few  years.  His  neat,  trim  but  quaint  figure  al- 
ways attracted  notice,  and  he  was  slyly  pointed  out  to  strangers,  as  he 
took  his  daily  walk  to  and  from  his  office.  Always  dressed  in  sober  black, 
inseparable  from  his  old-fashioned  "dress"  coat,  and  tall  silk  hat — the  coat 
and  hat  of  the  "gentleman"  of  by-gone  days — he  was  a  character  and  a  per- 
sonality to  attract  notice  and  command  respect. 

As  he  looked  back  over  his  long  and  busy  life ;  as  he  surveyed  his  work 
and  its  splendid  results;  as  the  retrospect  of  his  frequent  and  sturdy  con- 
tests in  the  interests  of  higher  education  of  medical  students,  and  of  pure 


120 


RELIGIOUS    AXD    CHURCH    LIFE  ;    LAST    DAYS 


morals,  and  of  religion  "pure  and  undefiled,''  and  in  uncompromising  op- 
position to  alcohol  in  all  its  forms,  did  there  ever  appear  before  him  the 
figure  of  the  lonely  little  boy,  and  the  gloomy  log  house,  and  the  environing 


The  last  picture  of  Dr.  Davis,  taken  in  1904  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death.  • 


forest,  where  this  venerable  and  venerated  man  began  his  heroic  and  won- 
derful career? 

On  Saturday,  June  4,  1904,  Dr.  Davis  went  to  his  office  at  his  regular 
time,  and  in  apparently  his  usual  health;  he  attended  to  his  patients  until 


RELIGIOUS   AND    CHURCH    LIFE;    LAST    DAYS  121 

the  last  one  had  been  received  and  dismissed,  and  then  slowly  walked  to 
his  residence,  on  Huron  street,  for  the  last  time.  The  "harp  of  a  thousand 
strings"  could  be  kept  "in  tune"  no  longer.  The  weary  heart  faltered  in 
its  work,  after  nearly  ninety  years  of  unintermitting  service ;  the  circulation 
gradually  failed,  respiration  became  difficult,  a  short  period  of  angina  pec- 
toris, reHeved  in  great  measure  by  chloroform  and  morphia,  and  the  end 
came  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  June  i6,  1904,  after  about  ten  days  of 
the  uneventful  decline  of  what  it  is  entirely  correct  and  proper  to  call  a 
normal  and  perfectly  healthy  senility.  The  vital  organism  was  exhausted ; 
Dr.  Davis'  work  was  done. 

The  span  of  his  earthly  life  was  eighty-seven  years,  five  months  and 
seven   days.     What  of  his   future? 

"Death  cannot  claim  the  immortal  mind. 
Let  earth  close  o'er  its  sacred  trust, 
Yet  goodness  dies  not  in  the  dust." 

His  funeral  occurred  On  Saturday,  June  19,  1904,  at  the  family  resi- 
dence, 291  Huron  street,  Chicago.  The  services,  which  were  brief  and 
simple,  were  in  charge  of  Rev.  John  Thompson,  pastor  of  Grace  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Chicago,  of  which  Dr.  Davis  was  an  active  and  loyal 
member.  The  honorary  pall-bearers  were:  Drs.  John  Hamilcar  Hollister, 
William  E.  Quine,  John  E.  Owens,  Emilius  C.  Dudley,  Frank  Billings, 
Frank  S.  Johnson,  (all  colleagues  or  former  colleagues  of  Dr.  Davis  in 
the  faculty  of  Northwestern  University  Medical  School),  and  Messrs.  Wil- 
liam Deering,  Frank  C.  Crandon  and  James  B.  Hobbs,  fellow  trustees  of 
Northwestern  University,  and  intimate  friends  of  the  deceased.  The  active 
pall-bearers  were:  Drs.  J.  D.  Kales,  W.  R.  Kales,  Albert  M.  Kales,  Frances 
H.  Kales,  Frank  H.  Davis  and  J.  Dorr  Bradley,  all  grandsons  of  the  doctor. 

There  was  no  music,  and  the  whole  service,  to  which  only  family  friends 
and  the  intimate  professional  and  other  associates  of  Dr.  Davis  were  invited, 
was  simple  in  the  extreme.  In  fact,  the  funeral  services  over  the  remains 
of  Dr.  Davis,  were  emblematic  of  the  man,  entirely  devoid  of  ceremony  or 
ritualistic  elaboration.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  the  remains  were 
conveyed  to  the  beautiful  necropolis  of  Rose  Hill,  and  the  words  of  the 
preacher  were  again  fulfilled,  "the  dust  returneth  to  the  earth  as  it  was, 
and  the  spirit  returneth  unto  God,  who  gave  it." 

The  death  of  Dr.  Davis  was  no  occasion  for  mourning  or  sadness.  It 
was  rather  the  occasion  for  the  outpouring  of  gratitude  and  congratulation 
on  the  part  of  his  surviving  brethren  of  the  medical  profession,  that  a 
character  so  perfect  and  faultless,  and  that  an  intellect  of  such  grand  pro- 


122  RELIGIOUS    AXD    CHURCH    LIFE;    LAST    DAYS 

portions,  had  adorned  and  honored  the  profession  throng^h  a  life  so  long  and 
fruitful. 

The  farewell  declaration  of  the  Great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  would 
have  been  equally  appropriate  from  the  lips  of  the  Great  Apostle  of  educa- 
tional and  temperance  reform:  "I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
m\'  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me 
in  that  day." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Memorial  Service. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  October  23,  1904,  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society  held  a  memorial  service  in  Powers'  Theater,  Chicago,  in  respectful 
remembrance  of  an  aged,  honored,  but  departed  member  of  the  society,  Dr, 
N.  S.  Davis.  He  was  one  of  the  founders,  was  the  oldest  member  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  and  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  keeping  the  organization 
alive  for  a  considerable  time  following  the  great  fire  of  1871.  For  well- 
nigh  half  a  century  he  had  attended  its  meetings. with  remarkable  regularity, 
had  been  its  President,  and  v;as  constantly  consulted  as  to  the  management 
and  policy  of  the  society.  He  had  furnished  several  papers  of  great  value, 
and  was  a  regular  and  active  participant  in  the  discussions  of  the  varioui 
subjects  which  came  before  its  meetings.  No  member  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society  was  ever  more  universally  beloved  and  respected  than  Dr. 
Davis.  It  was  peculiarly  fitting  and  appropriate,  therefore,  that  the  medi- 
cal profession  of  Chicago  and  vicinity,  as  embodied  in  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society,  should  pay  the  highest  honors,  and  the  deepest  respect,  to  this,  their 
most  eminent  member,   now   no  more. 

The  memorial  service  v\as  deeply  impressive.  A  large  audience  gath- 
ered, and  it  was  a  representative  audience.  All  classes  were  mere ;  nil 
professions  were  there ;  in  fact,  it  was  a  spontaneous  outpouring  of  respect 
and  homage  from  the  people,  to  the  great  man  they  had  known  so  long  and 
well. 

But  the  gathering  of  the  professional  brethren  of  the  deceased  was  a 
remarkable  feature.  They  were  there  in  great  numbers,  not  as  mourners; 
there  was  no  occasion  for  mourning ;  true  an  elder  brother  had  fallen,  full 
of  years,  full  of  honors,  but  he  had  left  a  great  name  and  a  spotless  char- 
acter, and  the  occasion  was  rather  one  for  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving,  than 
for  gloom  and  sadness. 

The  services  were  simple,  but  singularly  apt  and  appropriate.  There 
were  two  great  addresses,  each  one  by  a  great  and  deservedly  eminent  man. 
The  first  one  was  by  that  justly  and  highly  respected  prelate,  Rev.  John 
Lancaster  Spalding,  Bishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Diocese  of  Peoria,  on 
"The  Physician's  Calling  and  Education,"  which  we  reproduce  entire,  ex-  • 
cept  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  personal  and  historical  matter,  which  appear  in 
earlier  chapters.     The  address  is  as  follows : 


24  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

I  have  hope  and  wish  that  the  nobler  sort  of  physicians  will 
advance  their  thoughts,  and  not  employ  their  time  wholly  in  the 
sordidness  of  cures ;  neither  be  honored  for  necessity  only ;  but 
that  they  will  b)ecome  coadjutors  and  instruments  of  the  divine 
omnipotence  and  clemency  in  prolonging  and  renewing  the  life  of 
man. — Bacon. 

Love  for  true,  wase  and  heroic  men  and  women  is  part  of  our 
love  of  life,  which  is  a  craving  for  more  perfect  and  abundant 
life.  They  show  us  how  blessed  a  thing  it  is  to  be  a  genuine  man. 
They  confirm  our  faith  in  the  worth  and  sacredness  of  conscious 
existence,  and  make  our  standards  of  value  real  and  palpable. 
They  convince  us  that  within  and  beneath  and  beyond  all  that 
appears  is  the  creative  Spirit  who  knows  and  loves  and  is  good. 
They  make  it  plain  that  he  has  not  lost  his  cunning,  but  is  still 
with  us  as  he  was  with  our  fathers  of  old.  They  give  us  confi- 
dence that  life  shall  not  be  emptied  of  its  spiritual  content :  that 
a  race  which  has  learned  to  believe  and  hope,  to  think  and  do, 
can  not  descend  into  the  sloughs  of  sensual  indulgence  and  there 
lie  in  brutish  indifference.  What  no  one  has  done  we  imagine 
can  never  be  done,  and  these  sages  and  heroes  reveal  to  us  new 
possibilities.  AA'hen  they  appear  a  new  quality  of  life  dift'uses 
itself.  They  may  do  what  all  the  world  is  doing,  but  it  is  not  the 
same.  They  breathe  a  purer  air,  they  are  uplifted  and  borne  on 
by  higher  thoughts  and  diviner  impulses ;  they  need  not  money 
nor  recognition  nor  any  kind  of  worldly  success  to  make  them 
cur  benefactors  and  masters.  In  their  presence  financiers,  in- 
ventors and  battle-winners  dwindle.  These  deal  with  life's  cir- 
cumstances ;  they  drink  at  the  eternal  fountain-head.  ^Mental  and 
moral  force,  like  the  physical,  propagates  itself,  and  the  influence 
of  the  wise  and  good  is  transmitted  to  ever-enlarging  circles.  To 
hear  of  great  achievements  is  to  feel  a  new"  impulse  to  fresh 
resolve.  We  gain  from  them  a  higher  conception  of  the  meaning 
of  life,  and  of  the  marvels  that  lie  within  the  reach  of  whoever 
has  faith  -and  industry.  So  a  noble  man,  though  dead,  still  lives 
for  those  w^ho  knew  him  or  get  tidings  of  him,  and  he  is  often 
more  helpful  so,  than  when  he  moved  in  todily  presence.  So 
long  as  there  are  those  who  meditate  and  love  the  lives  of  noble 
and  just  men,  the  race  of  noble  and  just  men  can  not  perish. 

Thanks  to  God- who  makes  us  and  to  the  human  heart  by 
w^hich  we  live,  such  men  are  found  everywhere.  Neither  learning 
nor  wealth  nor  high  place  is  required  that  they  may  exist.    Their 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  [2; 

power  springs  from  within  where  great  thoughts,  high  aims  and 
loving  dispositions  are  horn  and  nourished.  They  may  or  may 
not  have  genius  or  fame.  They  may  dwell  in  solitude  or  mingle 
with  the  restless  crowds  that  pour  through  the  thoroughfares  of 
populous  cities ;  they  may  he  of  exalted  or  of  humble  birth ;  they 
may  follow  the  plow  or  sway  the  minds  of  listening  multitudes. 
.  Their  worth  lies  in  themselves — in  the  spirit  in  which  they  act — 
and  not  in  the  circumstances  by  which  they  are  environed.  What- 
ever their  worldly  fortune,  they  are  true  to  their  deepest  insight, 
pure  in  mind  and  heart,  modest,  unenvious,  free  from  vanity, 
from  the  desire  to  shine  and  to  become  a  theme  for  idle  tongues, 
consenting  to  be  made  conspicuous  only  at  the  command  of  duty, 
happy  in  the  good  they  can  do,  not  in  the  praise  or  the  money 
they  receive,  holding  themselves  aloof  from  controversy  and  in- 
trigue, intent  on  their  own  improvement  and  that  of  the  environ- 
ment in  which  their  lot  is  cast,  and  rejoicing  when  leisure  is  given 
them  to  take  refuge  from  the  cares  and  labors  their  business  or 
profession  involves  and  imposes  in  the  solitude  and  obscurity 
where  best  opportunity  is  afforded  to  grow  in  wisdom  and  in 
freedom. 

Thoughts  like  these  spring  unbidden  when  we  turn  to  the 
character  and  w^ork  of  him  to  do  honor  to  whose  memory  we 
have  come  together.  He  was  fortunate  in  the  circumstances  of 
his  life,  but  more  fortunate  in  having  within  himself  something- 
higher  and  worthier  than  circumstances  can  provide.  He  was 
one  of  the  happy  and  hardy  band  who  are  born  where  Nature 
holds  her  primal  sway  and  challenges  the  soul  to  become  itself; 
who  from  their  earliest  days  are  brought  face  to  face  with  what 
is  great  and  abiding,  with  the  solid  earth  and  the  heavens  made 
glorious  by  the  rising  and  setting  sun  or  beautiful  by  the  waxing^ 
or  waning  moon,  or  sublime  and  awful  by  the  intermingling  mys- 
tic light  of  countless  stars ;  who  dwell  with  the  changing  seasons, 
until  all  their  thoughts  and  dreams  are  enriched  and  colored  by 
the  radiance  and  freshness  of  spring,  by  the  abounding-  fragrant; 
wealth  of  summer,  by  autumn's  splendor  and  tranquillitv,  and 
by  winter's  white  purity  and  crisp  energy;  who,  felling  trees  or 
feeding  kine,  store  for  themselves  a  treasure-house  of  courage 
'and  firm  resolve  whence  they  may  draw  rich  nourishment  through 
all  the  coming  years  of  toil  and  struggle.  There  is  iron  in  their 
blood  and  the  full,  deep  throb  of  conquering  strength  in  their 
pulse-beat.     ThroAvn  back  on  Nature  and  on  themselves,   they 


126  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

are  made  aware  of  the  almightiness  of  God  revealing  itself  iti 
both.  It  is  he  who,  tossing  the  celestial  orbs,  as  a  child  its  toys, 
bids  them  spin  forever  in  abyssal  space;  it  is  he  who  lifts  the 
oceans  on  high  and  scatters  them  over  the  thirsty  earth  as  a  gar- 
dener waters  his  flowers.  Xo  man  nor  all  the  race  of  man  has 
made  the  world  in  which  tliese  young  souls  live  and  are  exalted 
and  urged  to  high  thoughts  and  deeds.    *    '■'     '■' 

There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  for 
which  we  ma}-  be  more  justly  or  profoundly  thankful  than  for 
the  rapid  and  wonderful  advance  made  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
causes  and  cures  of  disease.  From  the  time  men  began  to  think, 
they  began  to  consider  how  sickness  and  death  might  be,  if  not 
overcome,  at  least  mitigated  or  postponed;  nor  was  their  think- 
ing altogether  vain  or  profitless.  The  Egyptians  and  the  He- 
brews, stiL  more  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  arrived  at  some 
insight  into  the  laws  of  iiealth  and  the  treatment  of  disease. 
Hippocrates  and  Galen  are  great  names,  but  their  value  for  us 
is  historic,  not  scientific.  Hippocrates  was  born  4C0  years  before 
Christ,  and  from  that  date  to  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  there  was  relatively  but  little  progress  in  medicine.  Here 
and  there,  indeed,  we  meet  with  ph3-sicians  or  surgeons  of  spe- 
cial ability  or  skill.  Harvey's  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  in  the  seventeenth  century  was  important.  Sydenham,  by 
his  insistence  on  the  necessity  of  careful  observation  and  on  the 
healing  power  of  Nature,  rendered  valuable  service.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  Boerhaave,  whose  famfe  was  probably  greater 
than  that  of  any  physician  who  has  ever  lived,  whose  attainments 
were  as  surpassing  as  his  character  was  benevolent  and  pure, 
contributed  nothing  of  an  essential  importance  to  the  sgience  of 
medicine. 

The  most  important  contribution  to  medical  progr.ess  in  the 
eighteenth  centur}-  w"as  made  by  Jenner.  when,  in  1796,  he  intro- 
duced vaccination  as  a  prevention  of  smallpox;  for  he  not  only 
discovered  the  means  by  which  one  of  the  worst  scourges  has 
been  practical! v  eliminated,  but  he  opened  the  paths  along  which 
the  most  wonderful  advance  has  been  made,  ^^llen  -Dr.  John 
Hunter,  whose  pupil  he  was,  said  to  him,  "Do  not  think,  investi- 
gate !"  he  announced  the  opening  of  a  new  era  in  medical  his- 
tory. The  starting  point  was  the  systematic  employment  of  sci- 
entific methods  of  research.  Experiment  as  the  best  means  of 
arrivingf  at  accurate  knowledge  is  not  a  discoverv  of  the  nine- 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  12^ 

teenth  century,  but  the  nineteenth  century  provided  facilities 
and  laboratories  for  scientific  investigation,  and  so  made  it  ]Jos- 
sible  for  medical  students  to  observe,  analyze  and  determine  \vith 
precision  the  functions  and  conditions  of  the  organs  and  tissues 
of  the  body  in  liealth,  their  pathologic  changes,  the  causes  of  dis- 
ease and  the  means  of  prevention  or  cure.  The  result  was  that 
in  the  nineteenth  century  medicine  became  a  new  science,  wdiich 
made  most  of  what  had  been  taught  in  the  past  a  mere  curiosity 
of  literature.  All  the  vital  organs,  all  the  phenomena  of  life, 
were  examined  in  the  scientific  spirit,  and  as  knowledge  grew  it 
\^'as  perceived  that  a  single  organ  might  afford  sufficient  matter 
for  the  study  of  a  lifetime. 

Many  physicians  consequently  limited  their  field  of  investiga- 
tion to  the  diseases  of  special  organs,  or  to  the  diseases  of  women 
or  of  children,  and  to  the  labors  of  these  specialists  is  due  much 
of  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  ascertainment  of  fact 
and  in  the  best  methods  of  treatment.  The  greatest  medical 
triumphs  were  won  in  the  realm  of  the  infinitesimal  beings  that, 
unseen,  swarm  and  multiply  v\dthin  and  about  us  ever3^where. 
Bacteriology  was  born  of  the  philosophic  doubt,  which  for  ages 
had  engaged  the  attention  of  acute  minds  concerning  the  origin 
■  of  life.  Is  the  living  born  of  the  dead?  P'^or  centuries  the  weight 
of  opinion  had  inclined  to  give  an  affirmative  answer,  so  .far,  at 
least,  as  the  lowest  organisms  are  concerned.  The  theory  of 
.spontaneous  generation  prevailed  far  into  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  an  implication  of  the  theory  of  evolution 
which  tended  more  and  more  to  take  possession  of  the  modern 
mind.  It  would  have  supplied  the  missing  link  in  the  chain  of 
causation.  Hence  in  scientific  minds  there  was  a  bias  toward  its 
acceptance.  It  adapted  itself  to  the  pantheistic  or  materialistic 
world  views  which  were  gaining  wider  and  wider  acceptance. 
To  doubt  its  truth  was  to  retrograde.  But  the  brutal  fact  estab- 
lished by  scientific  experiment  showed  the  hypothesis  to  be  a  de- 
lusion, that  the  plain  truth  is  that  whatever  has  life  is  born  of  the 
living.  Pasteur,  probably  the  greatest  benefactor  of  the  human 
race  in  the  nineteenth  century,  proved  in  1861  and  again  in  1876. 
that  the  theory  of  spontaneous  generation  is  without  foundation  in 
fact,  and  contrary  to  all  the  evidence  which  scientific  research 
can  adduce.  The  consequence  was  that  bacteriology  became  a 
science,  and  the  causes  of  all  the  phenomena,  whether  of  health 
-or  of  disease,  began  to  be  sought  for  in  the  activities  of  living 


128  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

organisms,  the  smallest  known,  and  belonging  for  the  most  part 
to  the  vegetable  kingdom.  They  upbuild  and  they  break  down  all 
the  larger  forms  of  life.  They  are  the  m.ighty  armies  on  whose 
banners  is  inscribed  the  axiom.  "AMio  despiseth  small  things  shall 
little  by  little  be  brought  to  ruin." 

Bacteriology  has  furnished  a  solid  basis  for  preventive  medi- 
cine, Avhich  has  conferred  and  is  capable  of  conferring  more  and 
more  as  its  principles  receive  wider  application,  benefits  on  man- 
kind, that  make  the  triumphs  of  industrialism  of  minor  import- 
ance. 

]\Iore  than  250  years  ago,  Descartes,  the  most  original  mind 
of  the  modern  age.  who,  more  than  any  other  thinker,  has  deter- 
mined the  course  both  of  speculative  and  of  scientific  inquiry, 
declared  that  if  any  great  improvem.ent  in  the  condition  of  man- 
kind was  to  be  brought  about,  medicine  would  provide  the  means, 
and  what  he  foresaw  we  see.  The  discovery  that  nearly  all  the 
worst  diseases  which  afflict  the  human  race  are  due  to  the  action 
of  minute  organisms  directed  the  attention  of  educated  physi- 
cians to  the  exclusion  of  these  organisms,  or,  if  this  be  impossible, 
to  investigations  which  should  show  how  their  baneful  action 
might  be  prevented.  The  cause  which  creates  a  disease  being 
known,  the  physician's  business  is  to  learn  how  to  remove  it  or  to 
neutralize  its  effects.  Bacteriology  has  revealed  to  us  the  infini- 
tesimal organisms  that  produce  many  of  the  gravest  maladies  to 
which  man  is  subject — Asiatic  cholera,  diphtheria,  tvphoid  fever, 
typhus  fever,  yellow  fever,  smallpox,  the  bubonic  plague,  tubercu- 
losis, pneumonia,  hydrophobia,  leprosy,  venereal  diseases,  puer- 
peral fever  and  malaria.  These  are  all  germ  diseases  Avhich  it  is 
possible  to  prevent  or  cure.  Some  have  ceased  to  be  a  cause  of 
alarm  to  the  civilized  nations — smallpox,  for  instance,  Asiatic 
cholera,  t3"phus  fever,  the  bubonic  plague  and  puerperal  fever. 
AA'hen  vaccination  is  rightly  employed,  smallpox  wholl}-  disap- 
pears. AA'hen  filth  and  overcrowding  are  abolished,  where  there 
is  good  sewerage  and  pure  drinking  water,  typhus  fever,  Asiatic 
cholera,  yellow  fever  and  diphtheria  will  hardly  be  found.  The 
bubonic  plague  has  no  terrors  for  the  peoples  of  Europe  and 
America.  Puerperal  fever,  which  formerly  destroyed  each  year 
the  most  precious  lives  of  thousands  of  mothers,  is  now  almost 
unknown,  the  mortality  from  this  cause  being  only  about  .07  per 
cent.     Phvsicians  themselves  carrving  the  infectious  germs  from 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  1 29 

bedside  to  bedside  were  the  agents  of  death,  which  ignorant  and 
heedless  physicians  are  always  in  danger  of  becoming. 

When  it  became  scientifically  certain  that  many  of  the  worst 
diseases  are  produced  by  bacteria,  it  was  plain  that  the  principal 
occupation  of  the  physician  and  surgeon  should  be  concerned 
with  the  exclusion  of  poisonous  germs  or  with  the  means  by 
which  their  baneful  action  might  be  suppressed.  This  led  to  the 
employment  of  antiseptics  and  antitoxins.  Tlie  miracles  of  mod- 
ern surgery  are  due  not  so  m.uch  to  the  superior  skill  of  our 
operators  as  to  their  knowledge  of  the  means  by  which  inflam- 
mation and  suppuration  may  be  prevented.  Sepsis  is  a  Greek 
word  which  means  putrefaction,  and  antisepsis  is  the  science  and 
art  of  preventing  putrefactive  processes.  The  appalling  death 
rate  following  surgical  operations  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  is  not 
to  be  ascribed  to  imperfect  anatomic  knowledge  or  lack  of  man- 
ual skill,  but  to  infection  caused  by  disease-producing  germs 
which,  introduced  into  the  body  by  contact  with  the  air  or  with 
any  object  whatever,  in  which  they  had  not  been  destroyed,  mul- 
tiply and  sow  the  seeds  of  death  with  incredible  rapidity.  iVsep- 
sis,  based  on  the  germ  theory  of  infectious  diseases^  now  enables 
the  surgeon  to  operate  with  comparatively  small  risk  in  cases  in 
which  formerly  the  dread  of  some  form  of  blood  poisoning  de- 
terred him  from  attempting  to  save  his  patient.  Surgery  has  con- 
sequently become  a  new  and  most  beneficent  art,  anesthesia  ren- 
dering the  operation  painless,  while  asepsis  excludes  infection. 
The  progress  of  pathology  and  therapy,  if  less  striking,  is  not 
less  real,  and  will  doubtless  in  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  over- 
shadow the  triumphs  of  surgery.  The  field  in  which  it  works  is 
vaster,  and  its  methods  reach  deeper,  touching  the  roots  of  the 
ills  from  which  relief  is  sought.  The  living  body  has  within  itself 
a  greater  or  lesser  power  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  foes  to  health, 
and  there  have  never  been  lacking  practitioners  or  schools  to 
teach  that  in  the  treatment  of  disease  the  chief  reliance  is  in  the 
healing  force  of  nature.  The  blood  and  tissues,  in  their  normal 
state,  have  a  germicidal  efficacy  which  varies  with  the  special 
diatheses  of  individual  constitutions.  There  are  vigorous  na- 
tures which  seem  to  have  the  power  of  resisting  the  action  of  all 
poison-producing  bacilli,  while  others  afford  no  hold  to  certain 
specific  germs.  In  our  cities  the  bacteria  of  tuberculosis,  pneu- 
monia and  influenza  are  in  the  air  and  are  inhaled  by  all.  but 
fortunately  they  find  a  suitable  lodging  place  in  but  comparatively 


130  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

few.  Then  there  is  in  the  blood  a  regular  army  of  white  cells  or 
leucocytes,  whose  function  is  to  repel  and  destroy  the  intru  ding- 
enemy.  They  are  the  divinely  appointed  defenders  of  life's  for- 
tress, to  whom  the  secret  of  Nature's  medicinal  power  is  entrust- 
ed. They  change  or  neutralize  the  toxins  generated  by  the  poi- 
son germs,  and  elaborate  antitoxins ;  and  when  the  victory,  has 
been  gained  and  recovery  has  taken  place,  the  patient  has  ac- 
quired at  least  a  temporory  immunity  from  the  disease  which  has 
been  eradicated.  Insight  into  this  fact  has  led  to  the  discovery^ 
and  employment  of  serum  therapy,  whose  efficiency  has  wrought 
a  transformation  in  medical  practice,  and  promises,  as  knowledge- 
grows,  yet  greater  things.  In  one  who  has  had  the  smallpox  the 
conditions  which  favor  the  spread  of  the  poison  have  been  de- 
stroyed. The  question  suggests  itself  whether  by  introducing  into 
the  S3^stem  the  specific  poison  in  a  milder  form,  equal  immunit}^ 
may  not  be  acquired.  This  methodical  doubt  led  Pasteur  to  the 
discovery  of  serum  therapy,  which  by  the  injection  of  the  serum 
of  the  infected  blood  prevents  or  cures  the  disease.  Its  efificacy 
in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria,  hydrophobia  and  various  diseases 
of  animals  has  already  been  abundantly  proven,  and  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  research  of  specialists  will  enlarge  the 
field  of  its  prophylactic  or  curative  power,  until  it  shall  be  univer- 
sally recognized  as  the  opening  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of 
medical  science  and  practice,  an  epoch  in  which  new  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  causes  and  nature  of  disease  shall  lead  to  new 
and  efficacious  methods  of  prevention  or  treatment.  Drugs  will 
not  be  discarded,  but  their  action  will  be  scientifically  investi- 
gated and  confidence  in  their  therapeutic  value  will  diminish. 

It  was  Dr.  Davis'  good  fortune  to  begin  the  study  of  medicine 
when  this  great  transformation  was  about  to  take  place ;  and,  like 
the  good,  wise  and  far-seeing  man  he  was^  he  understood  that 
the  physician  could  no  longer  be  permitted  to  be  but  an  empiric. 

"The  essence  of  greatness  is  the  perception  that  virtue  is- 
enough,"  says  Emerson  in  his  fine  way.  Perception,  indeed,  is 
not  and  can  not  be  the  essence  of  anything,  but  he  who  has  in- 
sight into  the  fact  that  the  end  of  life  is  moral,  is  conduct  and 
character,  understands  wherein  the  essence  of  greatness  consists. 
It  lies,  like  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  within.  Title,  office,  posses- 
sions may  or  ma}^  not  be  its  accompaniments.  \"ast  knowledge 
even  gives  no  assurance  of  its  presence ;  for  it  is  what  a  man  be- 


AIEMORIAL  SERVICE  I3I 

lieves.  hopes,  loves,  admires,  yearns  for  and  does  rather  than 
what  he  knows.  Only  they  whose  existence  is  upborne  and  illu- 
mined by  a  high  and  holy  purpose  are  interesting  or  have  in- 
trinsic value.  The  rest  are  busy  with  what  ihey  shall  eat  and 
wear,  with  how  they  shall  be  housed  and  attended,  and  pass  their 
existence  on  the  low  plain  of  appetite  and  vain  desire.  Dr.  Davis 
was  more  than  a  learned  and  skillful  physician ;  he  was  a  genuine, 
man  filled  with  religious  and  moral  fervor  and  zeal.  He  might 
have  grown  rich,  but  he  died  poor.  He  felt  like  Agassiz.  tliat  he 
had  no  time  to  get  money.  Had  he  possessed  the  wealth  of  the 
founders  of  universities,  his  chief  significance  and  value  would 
still  have  lain  in  himself — in  his  rectitude  of  purpose,  in  his  de- 
sire to  teach  men  how  to  live,  in  the  simplicity  and  honesty  of 
his  life,  in  his  love  of  truth  and  justice,  in  his  high-mindedness, 
purity  and  benevolence,  in  his  freedom  from  envy,  jealousy  and 
pettiness. 

In  every  profession  there  are  men  without  principle  or  char- 
acter who  prefer  success  to  virtue,  vv'hose  predominant  passion  is 
greed,  who  to  get  money  are  ready  to  prey  on  the  weakness  and 
miseries  of  their  fellows,  who,  like  the  ghouls  that  gather  wher- 
ever great  calamities  befall,  consider  the  helplessness  and  suffer- 
ings of  their  fellows  but  opportunities  for  plunder;  and  since  a 
man  is  willing  to  give  all  he  possesses  for  health,  and  since  who- 
ever can  pay  can  advertise,  the  healing  art  offers  the  most  invit- 
ing field  for  these  hyenas  in  human  shape  ;  and  therefore  the  med- 
ical profession,  more  than  law  and  quite  as  much  as  the  sacred 
ministry,  is  most  commended  and  honored  by  men  who  to  scien-  * 
tific  attainments  add  the  essential  and  abiding  worth  of  moral 
character.  If  it  be  true_that  an  orator  is  first  of  all  a  good  man, 
one  who  inspires  confidence,  who  is  himself  more  eloquent  than 
words  can  be,  it  is  also  true  that  a  physician  should  first  of  all 
be  a  man  of  moral  worth,  of  principle,  of  probity,  of  honor,  of 
benignity  and  heroic  unselfishness.  If  confidence  in  him  as  a  man 
be  lacking,  the  wise  will  hesitate  to  put  trust  in  the  exercise  of 
his  professional  knowledge  and  skill;  and  confidence  is  half  the 
cure,  since  in  his  power  to  inspire  hope,  a  cheerful  and  brave 
spirit,  hes,  in  most  cases,  the  secret  of  a  physician's  success.  Boer- 
haave,  whose  reputation  surpasses  that  of  all  other  physicians,  to 
whom  letters  addi:essed  "to  the  most  famous  physician  of  Eu- 
rope" were  sure  to  be  delivered,  wrought,  it  is  said,  more  cures 
by  his  presence  than  by  his  remedies.  However  great  one's 
science  or  skill,  the  foundation  of  the  trust  we  place  in  him  must 


132  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

be  laid  by  his  moral  worth.  Knowledge  does  not  of  itself  deter- 
mine will  or  form  character,  and  one  may  know  many  things  and 
be  onh'  the  greater  villain. 

The  trend  of  the  most  recent  theor}'  and  practice  in  education 
is  to  lay  chief  stress  on  intellectual  ability  and  technical  skill,  and 
to  hold  lightly  the  convictions  of  those  who  are  persuaded  that 
human  life  is  essentially  conduct,  and  that  the  everlasting  foun- 
tain-head by  which  right  doing  is  fed  by  religious  faith,  which 
alone  can  build  the  foundation  of  a  rational  belief  in  the  absolute 
worth  and  sacredness  of  man,  as  revealed  by  his  origin  and  des- 
tiny. 

The  ideal  is  that  of  the  calculating  understanding  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  senses.  Get  money,  and  whatever  is  desirable  shall 
be  thine.  Succeed,  by  fair  or  foul  means,  and  the  world  will  do 
thee  homage.  Make  thyself  able,  strong  and  skillful,  and  thou 
shalt  have  small  need  of  virtue. 

Dr.  Davis  was  a  lover  of  knowledge,  a  life-long  student,  a 
chief  promoter  of  medical  organization  in  this  country,  and  the 
tireless,  persuasive  advocate  of  the  need  in  his  own  profession  of 
higher  and  more  thorough  education.  His  mind  was  vigorous 
and  alert,  his  intellectual  curiosity  drew  him  ceaselessly  to  scien- 
tific inquiry,  his  temper  was  judicial,  his  power  of  diagnosis  was 
exceptional ;  but  his  religious,  virtuous  life,  his  sobriet}^,  his  toler- 
ance, his  largeness  of  thought  and  sympathy,  his  independence, 
his  sense  of  justice,  his  desire  to  be  of  help,  his  fearlessness  in 
the  assertion  and  maintenance  of  right,  his  indefatigable  zeal  for 
the  promotion  of  temperance  and  morality — his  character — gave 
him  a  distinction  which  belongs  to  but  few  in  any  profession.  He 
himself  is  greater  than  his  reputation.  "The  chief  need,"  says 
Seneca,  "is  of  great  teachers."  Dr.  Davis  was  a  great  teacher, 
and.  like  all  teachers  of  essential  vital  truths,  his  highest  lessons 
are  taught  bv  his  life  more  than  by  his  words. 

In  the  midst  of  the  crowd  of  adventurers,  of  the  rabble  of 
fortune  seekers,  in  which  he  found  himself  when  first  he  came 
to  Chicago,  he  walked  the  narrow  path  among  them  like  a  min- 
istering spirit,  but  not  of  them;  and  when  the  town  of  twenty 
thousand  had  grown  to  be  a  city  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  in- 
habitants, he,  where  all  had  changed,  remained  steadfast,  true  to 
God,  to  himself  and  to  the  service  of  his  fellow-men,  faithful  to 
the  old  principles  which  assert  religion,  conduct  and  character 
to  be  the  aim  and  end  of  life.    For  him  duty  is  a  divine  impulse, 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  133 

and  honor,  the  finest  sense  of  duty.  The  patient  who  called  him 
became  as  sacred  in  his  eyes  as  is  the  penitent  in  the  presence  of 
the  priest.  What  he  learned  was  as  though  he  knew  it  not.  The 
body  is  not  separate  from  the  soul,  and  like  it,  is  sacred.  He 
who  ministers  to  the  infirmities  of  the  one,  helps  the  other.  The 
physician  and  the  priest  are  near  kin,  and  in  all  ages  have  been 
held  to  be  so,  though  like  near  kin  they  have  had  their  quarrels. 
Both  recognize  that  moral  good  is  the  essential  good ;  that  if 
men  had  but  virtue  enough,  they  would  have  health  and  happi- 
ness enough. 

Progress  in  etiology  and  diagnosis  has  confirmed  the  belief 
that  the  root  of  evil  lies  not  in  the  stars,  but  in  ourselves. 

Men  are  most  prone  to  lie  to  themselves,  and  most  willing  to 
be  lied  to,  when  there  is  question  of  their  health  and  morals. 
They  will  lay  their  infirmities  and  faults  to  anything  in  the  wide 
universe  but  themselves.  Whether  there  is  question  of  medicine 
•or  of  religion,  their  unwillingness  or  inability  to  employ  the 
right  preservatives  or  remedies  lies  in  their  unwillingness  or 
inability  to  lead  right  lives.  We  make  ourselves  the  victims  of 
greed,  lust,  gluttony,  drunkenness,  envy  and  hate,  and  find  what 
comfort  we  may  in  denouncing  doctors  and  priests.  And  doc- 
tors and  priests,  who,  if  they  are  not  better,  are  worse  than  lay- 
men, are  forever  tempted  to  palter,  to  flatter,  lacking  the  cour- 
age to  unveil  truth  to  the  easily  shocked  eyes  of  lechers,  drunk- 
ards, gluttons,  thieves  and  tricksters,  if,  having  money  and  posi- 
tion, they  can  make  or  mar.  They  are  forever  tempted  to  prove 
false  to  their  deepest  knowledge  and  insight,  to  compromise 
where  compromise  is  betrayal,  to  indulge  where  indulgence  is 
ruin,  to  administer  palliatives  when  there  is  no  hope  but  in  radi- 
cal change.  This  false  and  cowardly  attitude  undermines  char- 
acter, confuses  knowledge,  and  destroys  the  power  to  inspire  con- 
fidence in  those  who  are  ill  that  they  shall  be  made  whole. 

In  the  presence  of  the  all-pervading  self-indulgence  and  self- 
deceit  which  lust  and  pride  and  greed  beget,  we  are  made  con- 
■scious  of  the  transcendent  worth  of  a  man  like  Dr.  Davis. 

In  him  the  average  sensual  man,  who  is  every  man,  can  find 
little  comfort.  He  sees  the  fact  and  speaks  plain.  Between  him 
and  the  possibility  of  quackery  there  lie  infinite  worlds.  Be- 
tween him  and  the  expert  who  values  his  professional  ability 
chiefly  for  its  power  to  exact  large  fees,  there  lie  infinite  worlds. 
Between  him  and  the  crowd  of  the  prosperous,  who  believe  that 


134  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

a  man  is  worth  not  Avhat  he  is,  but  what  he  possesses,  there  he 
infinite  worlds. 

Into  the  vahey  of  the  ^Mississippi,  made  fat  and  fertile  by 
the  slow  but  ceaseless  action  of  natural  forces  during  epochs  of 
indefinable  length,  there  has  come  suddenly  a  race,  provided 
with  the  highest  religious,  moral  and  scientific  power,  a  race  of 
exceptional  vigor  and  of  most  fortunate  historic  experience.  In 
brief  time  we  have  developed  here  a  material  civilization  whose 
wealth  and  promise  is  a  \\  orld- wonder.  A\diat  hitherto  it  had 
taken  thousands  of  years  to  bring  about,  has  been  accomplished 
in  half  a  century.  But  we  ourselves  have  not  gro^v■n  as  our  pros- 
perity has  increased.  We  have  succumbed  to  our  success.  AVe 
have  vast  riches,  and  all  the  comfort,  luxury  and  display  which 
monev  provides,  but  our  thoughts  are  superficial,  our  sympathies 
shallow,  our  desires  selfish  or  sensual,  our  aims  and  ambitions 
vulgar. 

Like  those  who,  in  the  midst  of  unending  waters,  die  of  thirst, 
we,  having  all  that  earth's  bounty  can  give,  have  lost  the  secret 
and  the  art  of  leading  a  worthy  and  a  happy  life,  because  we 
have  ceased  to  be  either  willing  or  able  to  believe  that  souls  live 
by  faith,  hope,  love  and  imagination,  in  the  light  of  high  ideals, 
and  in  the  glow  and  warmth  of  self-devotion  to  what  is  forever 
true,  and  good  and  fair.  We  measure  human  worth  by  mechani- 
cal standards,  the  value  of  life  by  the  opportunities,  it  affords 
for  the  indulgence  of  appetite  or  vanity.  We  are  feverish,  rest- 
less, timid  and  uncertain.  In  our  verv  strength  and  energy  there 
seems  to  be  something  akin  to  disease.  AA'e  can  neither  work 
nor  plav  in  moderation.  The  wisdom  of  those  who  are  content 
with  what  suffices  is  in  our  eyes  folly.  Hence  it  is  easy  for  us 
to  become  gamblers,  promoters,  givers  or  takers  of  bribes,  drunk- 
ards, and  suicides ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  dazzling  spectacle  of 
our  national  progress,  it  is  a  question  whether  our  millionaires, 
or  our  toiling,  hard-driven  wage-earners,  are  more  discontented 
and  unhappy. 

AMth  us  everything  improves — mechanical  devices,  the  breeds 
of  domestic  animals,  the  qualities  of  vegetables  and  fruits — man 
alone  is  stationary  or  retrograde,  because  his  nature,  being  es- 
sentially moral  and  religious,  the  worship  of  vulgar  success,  the 
indulgence  of  appetite,  the  preference  of  the  external  and  tran- 
sitory to  the  real  abiding  world  within,  make  religion  and  morality 
impossible. 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  135 

From  the  midst  of  such  a  world,  a  man  like  Dr.  Davis  rises, 
like  one  inspired,  to  proclaim  by  word  and  deed,  that  righteous- 
ness is  life,  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  tliat  whatsoever  thing 
a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  reap,  that. sin  or  culpable  ignorance 
or  nealect,  which  is  sin,  is  the  cause  of  nearly  all  the  diseases, 
ills  and  miseries  by  which  we  are  brought  to  ruin. 

To  the  learned  professions  especially,  liis  teaching  and  his 
example  declare  that  they  rest  not  more  on  a  basis  of  knowl- 
edge and  skill,  than  on  a  foundation  of  principle,  honor  and 
benevolence.  His  view  is  generous  and  comprehensive.  Xot  for 
his  clients  alone  does  the  lawyer  exist,  nor  for  his  penitents,  the 
priest;  nor  for  his  patients,  the  physician. 

God  makes  sages  and  saints  that  they  may  be  fountain-heads 
of  wisdom  and  virtue  for  all  who  yearn  and  aspire;  and  who- 
ever has  superior  knowledge  or  ability  is  thereby  committed  to 
.more  effectual  and  unselfish  service  of  his  fellow-men.  If  the 
love  of  fame  be  but  an  infirmity  of  noble  minds,  the  craving  for 
professional  reputation  is  but  conceit  and  vanity.  To  be  of 
help,  and  to  be  of  help  not  to  mere  animals,  but  to  immortal, 
pure,  loving  spirits — this  is  the  noblest  earthly  fate,  this,  the 
highest  good  fortune.  In  the  light  of  this  ideal  Dr.  Davis  l>e- 
lieved,  hoped,  loved,  worked,  suffered,  died  and  triumphed. 
When  the  politicians,  the  captains  of  industry,  the  inventors  of 
mechanical  devices,  the  lavishers  of  millions  to  promote  what- 
ever ends,  shall  have  sunk  into  oblivion  or  be  remembered  with 
the  contempt  of  indifference,  he  shall  remain  as  a  witness  to 
right  human  life,  as  an  influence  and  encouragement  to  all  who 
have  faith  in  God,  in  truth,  in  justice,  in  plain,  unselfish  living, 
in  brave  endeavor,  in  purity  and  love;  a  principle  of  hope  and 
courage,  an  inextinguishable  light  to  beings  who  wander  amid 
the  labyrinths  of  time  and  space,  and  feel  and  are  certain  that 
their  true  home  is  with  the  Eternal  Father  who  makes  and  up- 
bears the  Universe  that  beings  like  unto  Tlimself  may  be  born 
and  grow  forever. 

Before  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of  London,  there  is 
delivered  an  address,  each  year,  to  commemorate  the  life  and 
work  of  John  Hunter.  Let  the  physicians  and  the  medical 
schools  of  Chicago  bear  witness  to  their  love  of  worth  and  ap- 
preciation of  excellence,  by  making  a  similar  foundation  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  Nathan  Smith  Davis. 


136  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

The  second  address  was  by  the  late  Rev.  Stephen  M.  Merrill,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churchy  of  which  Dr.  Davis  was 
a  member  for  more  than  sevent}^  years.  Bishop  Merrill  knew  Dr.  Davis 
intimately;  in  fact,  they  were  a  couple  of  congenial  spirits,  while  they  were 
yet  in  the  f^esh,  and  who  shall  say  that  they  are  not  far  more  cong^enial,  now 
that  they  are  disburdened  of  their  tenements  of  clay?  Bishop  Merrill's  ad- 
dress is  peculiarly  appropriate,  because  it  is  an  authoritative  declaration  of 
Dr.  Davis'  religious  viev/s  and  faith.  That  portion  of  the  address  which 
simply  states  facts  relating  to  Dr.  Davis'  personal  and  professional  history 
that  have  been  embodied  in  previous  chapters,  is  omitted ;  otherwise  it  is 
quoted  verbatim : 

The  honored  practice  of  pronouncing  eulogies  for  the  de- 
parted is  ancient  and  well  nigh  universal.  It  accords  well  with 
the  better  instincts  of  our  natures,  and  no  doubt  originated  in 
impulses  of  the  heart  which  are  in  themselves  noble  and  en- 
nobling. It  makes  us  better  men  to  think-  well  of  those  who 
have  been  with  us  and  have  gone  away,  and  it  cannot  and  should 
not  be  pleasant  to  hear  words  of  censure  or  disparagement 
spoken  of  any  who  have  left  us.  The  injunction  to  speak  noth- 
ing but  good  of  the  dead  is  the  mandate  of  nature — the  formula- 
tion in  words  of  a  sentiment  which  flows  spontaneoush'  from 
hearts  unbiased  by  passion. 

It  is  a  blessed  thing  when  the  lives  of  our  friends  whose  ab- 
sence we  mourn,  have  been  such  that,  when  recalled  in  memory, 
they  afford  material  for  pleasant  thoughts  and  approving  words. 
Such  lives  never  leave  us.  They  abide  with  us  in  hallowed 
association,  as  cherished  ideals,  and  as  uplifting  incentives  to 
lofty  aims  and  heroic  endurance. 

There  is  something  beautiful  in  the  fact  that  in  our  thoughts 
of  the  dead  we  instinctively  turn  to  the  better  qualities  of  their 
lives,  and  find  pleasure  only  in  the  good  "things  we  can  recall. 
We  should  deem  it  a  mark  of  degeneracy  in  ourselves  if  we 
could  find  com.fort  in  remarking  or  emphasizing  the  defects,  or 
vices,  or  deformities  of  any  sort,  that  might  be  discovered  by 
critical  analysis,  or  by  inordinate  searching  for  them  in  the  im- 
perfect knowledge  we  possess  of  the  motives  and  actions  of 
those  who  have  fought  their  battles  and  finished  their  courses. 
As  "charity  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,"  so  does  the  normal  hu- 
man heart  spread  this  mantle  over  the  imperfections  of  those  who 
have  gained  life's  goal  in  advance  of  us. 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  1 3; 

We  owe  it  to  onr  friends  who  have  gone  to  speak  well  of 
them;  and  we  owe  it  no  less  to  our  friends  who  are  alive,  and 
whom  we  shall  leave  behind  us,  to  live  such  lives  and  to  develop 
such  virtues  that  those  who  love  us  may  have  unmixed  pleasure 
in  recalling  what  we  have  been  and  what  we  have  done.  As  in 
our  memory  of  those  we  have  loved  and  lost,  we  find  the  great- 
est satisfaction  in  recalling  those  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
which  most  nearly  allied  them  to  our  best  conceptions  of  moral 
goodness  and  a  happy  destiny,  so  are  we  bound  by  the  most 
sacred  obligations  to  leave  to  our  loved  ones  the  priceless  heri- 
tage of  a  good  name — a  treasure  that  will  be  a  delight  and  not 
a  burden  to  them — a  memory  of  faith,  of  purity,  of  philanthropy, 
and  of  loyalty  to  God,  to  home,  to  country,  and  to  all  that  is 
praiseworthy  and  of  good  report. 

I  am  glad  that  to-day  we  are  not  to  speak  merely  of  the 
ideal  man,  but  of  a  real  man,  of  one  whom  we  have  known  and 
honored  and  loved;  a  man  the  memory  of  whose  life  now  that 
he  has  gone,  is  a  repository  of  good  things,  a  delight  and  a  joy 
to  his  own,  and  an  inspiration  to  his  fellow-men,  and  especially 
to  his  associates  in  the  profession  which  so  greatly  absorbed 
him,  and  to  which  he  devoted  his  time  and  talents  with  such 
restless  industry  and  such  untiring  zeal.  Dr.  Nathan  Smith 
Davis  was  a  man  among  men,  a  public-spirited  citizen  among 
his  fellow  citizens,  and  a  physician  always  and  everywhere — a 
physician  who  loved  his  profession,  and  sought  to  honor  and 
exalt  it  by  every  possible  means,  and  at  any  cost  of  labor  or 
sacrifice.  The  proof  that  he  did  all  this  is  in  the  record  of  his 
life.  His  life  was  long  and  full  of  incident,  and  especially  full 
of  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the  science  of  medicine,  and 
for  the  enlargement  of  the  sphere  of  its  usefulness.  He  looked 
upon  it  not  merely  as  a  science,  but  as  an  agency  for  the  allevia- 
tion of  sufifering,  as  the  servant  of  mankind,  as  a  benediction 
to  the  human  race. 

It  is  scarcely  guesswork  to  assert  that  it  was  the  idea  enter- 
tained by  him  of  the  philanthropic  character  of  the  work  of  the 
physician  that  intensified  his  love  for  it,  and  that  induced  him 
to  devote  himself  to  it  with  such  unremitting  persistence.  Be- 
fore his  mind  this  calling  stood  out  distinctly  as  clothed  with 
all  the  sacredness  of  a  divinely  appointed  agency  for  bringing 
relief  from  God  to  suffering  men.  With  this  high  conception 
of  his  profession,  and  with  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  respon- 


138  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

sibilities  involved  in  accepting  it  as  a  life-work,  it  was  not  pos- 
sible for  him  to  do  other\vise  than  take  a  broad  view  of  the 
privileges  and  obligations  accompanying  it,  nor  could  he  fail  to 
put  a  high  estimate  upon  the  sciences  which  underlie  it  and 
are  so  necessary  to  all  who  would  successfully  practice  the  heal- 
ing art. 

He  was  himself  a  student — a  diligent  and  patient  student 
— and  with  his  appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  complete  equip- 
ment for  the  work,  he  wanted  all  doctors  to  be  students  and 
to  have  access  to  all  the  helps  that  could  be  secured  or  created 
for  the  prosecution  of  studies  in  those  branches  of  learning 
which  were  necessary  to  proficiency  in  the  great  profession,  or 
lielpful  or  tributary  to  its  elevation  and  improvement.  He  was 
therefore  the  promoter  of  colleges — colleges  of  Liberal  Arts 
and  Medical  Colleges — and  may  be  justly  regarded  as  a  pioneer 
in  this  line  of  work  in  this  city 

It  has  been  said  that  the  study  of  medicine  as  a  science  tends 
to  make  men  skeptical — that  such  constant  and  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  laws  and  forces  of  nature  as  tliis  study  requires, 
leads  to  materialistic  conceptions  of  the  universe,  and  shuts  out 
thoughts  of  things  spiritual  and  divine.  Sad  indeed  if  this  were 
true.  Then  there  would  be  conflict  between  Christianity  and 
science ;  between  the  disclosures  of  men's  inner  consciousness 
and  the  impressions  gained  from  personal  contact  with  the  world 
through  the  media  of  the  senses.  To  my  nrlnd  this  statement 
is  not  well  founded — it  is  not  in  harmony  with  experience  or 
•observation;  for  facts  warrant  the  assertion  that  among  no  class 
of  thinking  men  are  there  to  be  found  a  larger  percentage  of 
believers  in  God  and  in  the  virtues  of  the  Christian  faith,  than 
among  those  who  give  their  lives  to  this  study.  It  is  true  that 
men  of  no  other  class  come  into  closer  touch  Avith  the  laws 
.and  forces  of  nature  than  do  physicians ;  and  if  God  be  revealed 
in  his  laws  and  if  his  wisdom  and  power  be  traceable  in  his 
works,  then  to  the  honest  student  of  nature  there  must  come  in- 
timations of  infinite  wisdom  and  power,  and  of  high  moral  pur- 
pose, such  as  do  not  come  necessarily  to  men  engaged  in  other 
pursuits.  There  is  no  more  materialism  in  science,  not  falsely 
so-called,  than  there  is  in  trade  and  traffic.  There  is  nothing- 
more  engrossing  to  the  senses  in  this  profession  than  there  is  in 
banking  and  finance.  Rather  it  would  seem  that  men  who  came 
:nearest  to  God's   laws  come  nearest  to  God  himself.     If  it  be 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  1 39 

true,  as  has  been  said,  that  an  "iindevout  astronomer  is  mad," 
it  must  be  true  that  the  man  who  masters  the  intricacies  of 
nature's  laws  to  the  extent  necessary  to  become  respectable  in 
the  medical  profession,  and  _vet  becomes  a  disbeliever  in  God,  has 
at  least  missed  great  opportunities,  and  failed  to  follow  the  truest 
impulses  of  his  own  personality.  The  doctor  is  not  necessarily 
a  skeptic.  In  no  profession  have  there  appeared  men  of  stronger 
faith  or  of  more  intelligent  devotion  to  Christian  principles  than 
among   physicians. 

The  remark  has  also  been  made  that  men  who  have  gained 
eminence  in  this  profession  have  lost  sympathy  with  men — have 
followed  a  single  line  of  thought  till  they  have  lost  sight  of  the 
great  world  with  its  push  and  rush  in  the  lines  of  business  and 
of  general  and  social  progress,  and  have  come  to  live  in  a  little 
world  of  their  own — a  world  c[uite  apart  from  the  real  world  of 
actual  humanity — with  the  result  that  they  have  become  narrow 
and  selfish.  If  there  is  much  truth  in  this  it  furnishes  an  argu- 
ment against  specialties  and  specialists  in  any  profession  and  in 
any  calling.  There  are  doubtless  examples  to  be  found  which 
illustrate  this  statement,  and  which  taken  alone  w^ould  seem  to 
indicate  that  concentration  of  mind  tends  to  narrowness.  But 
it  is  not  wise  to  take  exceptions  for  the  rule.  Indeed  the  man 
largely  determines  the  tendency  of  his  own  habits  in  this  re- 
gard. If  he  be  narrow  and  selfish  in  the  primary  qualities  of 
nature,  the  concentration  of  his  thoughts  upon  a  given 
line  of  study  will  be  very  likely  to  intensify  his  selfish- 
ness and  to  make  conspicuous  his  lack  of  breadth  and 
generous  sympathy.  There  are  such  in  all  professions.  In 
the  minitry  the}'  become  fanatics,  and  in  medicine  they  become 
fadists.  We  disparage  either  profession  by  treating  such  as  il- 
lustrations of  general  tendencies.  We  rather  take  it  that  a  man 
of  great  faculties  can  never  become  little.  He  seeks  and  de- 
mands a  large  world.  "No  pent  up  Utica  confines  his  powers." 
He  wants  room,  and  finds  it  where  great  facts  aAvait  his  com- 
ing, and  where  great  forces  await  the  touch  of  his  genius  to 
bring  them  into  harmonious  relations,  and  to  set  them  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  beneficent  purposes  of  their  mission.  Then 
we  take  it,  further,  that  greatness  and  littleness  are  relative 
terms — that  the  things  which  these  terms  represent  are  not  to 
be  confounded  with  bulk  or  space.  A  great  world  may  not  re- 
cjuire   large   space.     The  man   with  the  microscope  lives   in   as 


140  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

vast  a  universe  as  does  the  one  with  the  telescope.  The  latter 
sweeps  immensity  and  measures  stars  and  the  orbits  of  worlds, 
while  the  other  detects  hidden  minutiae  and  reveals  activities  and 
forces  which  give  greatness  to  bulk.  "Without  the  little  things 
.  of  the  world,  no  world  could  be  great :  and  without  the  minutest 
details  of  life,  no  life  could  reach  its  proper  measure  of  great- 
ness. 

He  whose  life  we  commemorate  to-day  was  not  little.  While 
he  busied  himself  with  the  details  of  the  substance,  structure, 
organs  and  functions  of  the  human  body  and  sought  to  know 
the  properties  of  the  mineral  and  vegetable  substances  which  con- 
stitute the  mighty  aggregation  of  materia  vicdica,  he  was  to 
some  extent  shut  in  from  the  leisure  and  pleasure  of  a  less  in- 
tense life ;  but  this  did  not  destroy  his  sympathy  with  his  fellow- 
men.  He  was  neither  a  recluse  nor  a  cynic.  He  kept  in  touch 
with  the  currents  of  popular  thought.  While  not  altogether  of 
the  world,  he  was  in  it  and  with  it  in  the  fellowship  of  its  higher 
life,  and  especially  with  it  in  its  struggles  for  the  betterment  of 
the  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  conditions  01  the  masses.  He 
readilv  ioined  with  others  in  pushing  enterprises  for  the  public 
weal ;  and  in  his  efforts  to  build  institutions  for  the  advancement 
of  science  he  was  neither  visionary  nor  abstruse,  but  wise  in 
counsel,  and  practical  in  plans  and  methods. 

There  was,  however,  another  aspect  of  his  life  which  it  has 
been  deemed  desirable  to  have  represented,  and  for  that  reason 
mainlv  is  due  my  invitation  to  be  present.  He  was  not  only  a 
scientist,  a  physician,  a  philanthropist,  but  he  was  also  a  Chris- 
tian. AMth  all  the  skepticism  of  our  times,  which  spreads  a  pall 
of  darkness  over  the  brightest  hopes  of  men,  there  is  still  an 
atmosphere  about  us  of  cheerfulness  and  hope  which  could  not 
exist  without  the  inspirations  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  is  this 
that  gives  tone  and  character  to  the  civihzation  of  our  day,  and 
distinguishes  it  as  superior  to  all  other  civilizations,  ^^'e  do  well 
therefore  to  emphasize  our  Christianity,  to  assert  its  claims,  and 
to  give  it  honor  as  the  chief  element  of  our  greatness  and  power 
as  a  people.  But  when  we  simply  say  that  a  man  was  a  Chris- 
tian, we  say  but  little  about  him  personally,  or  little  that  con- 
veys a  distinct  idea  of  his  religious  life.  If  we  go  into  the  land 
of  another  civilization,  as  in  a  pagan  or  ^Mohammedan  countr}-, 
and  speak  of  a  man  as  a  Christian,  we  simply  indicate  that  he 
is   from   a   land   where   the   Christian   religion   is   the   dominant 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  I4I 

faith,  and  give  no  idea  of  his  personal  character.  With  the  peo- 
ple of  those  countries  all  who  are  from  America  are  Christians, 
regardless  of  the  lives  they  lead,  and  this  fact  is  not  a  small 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  propagation  of  the  faith.  IJnt  here 
when  we  say  of  a  man  that  he  is  a  Christian,  we  convey  the 
idea  that  he  has  in  some  way  avowed  his  personal  belief  in  God,, 
and  in  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  such  is  our  educa- 
tion that  we  expect  those  who  have  made  this  avowal  to  live 
according  to  the  high  standards  of  Christian  morality.  We 
account  no  one  a  Christian  who  does  not  conform  in  character 
and  life  to  the  demands  of  the  Christian  faith. 

In  this  country,  if  we  would  be  sure  of  the  c|ualities  of  a 
man's  Christian  profession  and  Christian  life,  we  want  to  go  a 
little  farther  and  ascertain  his  denominational  bearings.  A  man 
may  be  a  Christian  and  a  Roman  Catholic,  or  a  Lutheran,  or  a 
Presbyterian,  or  a  Baptist,  or  a  Methodist.  When  we  know  his 
denomination,  we  know  in  a  general  way  the  distinguishing  feat- 
ures of  his  personal  beliefs. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  a  Methodist.  In  early  life  he  professed 
faith  in  Christ,  and  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  lived  in  full  fellowship  and  communion  with  that. church  for 
more  than  half  a  century.  His  profession  was  therefore  specific. 
He  accepted  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  his  church  and  sought 
to  live  the  life  his  profession  required.  We  therefore  know 
where  to  find  him  religiously.  He  was  true  and  loyal  to  his 
church,  but  he  was  neither  narrow  nor  bigoted.  He  could  not 
be  and  be  a  consistent  Methodist;  but  he  must  be  positive  in 
his  convictions  and  broad  in  his  sympathies. 

As  a  Methodist  he  believed  in  the  authenticity,  the  authority, 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments ;  in  the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the 
rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  in  the  summary  of  doctrines  set  forth 
in  the  baptismal  covenant  and  in  the  Apostles'  Creed;  and  in 
this  faith  he  stood  on  ground  common  to  all  evangelical  churches 
in  Christendom.  As  a  Methodist  he  believed  in  the  universal 
reign  of  sin  through  the  corruption  of  human  nature ;  in  the  in- 
carnation of  God  in  the  person  of  his  Son ;  in  the  sacrifice  of 
Jesus  Christ  for  the  sins  of  men ;  and  in  the  sufficiency  of  that 
sacrifice  to  make  salvation  possible  to  all  men.  He  believed 
also  in  justification  by  faith;  in  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost; 
in  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  to  personal  adoption ;  in  sanctification 


142  MEMORIAL  SERVICE 

through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant ;  in  the  sufficiency 
of  grace  to  sustain  behevers  in  perseverance  to  the  end;  in  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  in  rewards  and  punishments  in 
the  Avorld  to  come.  Standing  intelHgently  on  this  broad  plat- 
form, he  could  not  be  otherwise  than  Catholic  in  spirit,  recogniz- 
ing as  brethren  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity 
in  any  church  and  in  all  churches,  and  extending  the  hand  of 
fellowship  to  all  such,  regardless  of  ecclesiastical  forms  and 
usages.  In  full  accord  with  his  church  he  regarded  Christianit)^ 
as  much  greater  than  Methodism,  or  any  other  ism,  and  could 
not  imagine  the  lines  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  quadrating  with 
the  lines  of  any  ecclesiastical  organization  on  the  earth. 

As  a  2^Iethodist,  he  accepted  the  ten  conmiandments  and  the 
sermon  on  the  mount  as  the  divinely  appointed  standard  of 
morality,  and  held  that  our  Lord's  summary  of  these,  enjoining 
love  to  God  with  all  the  heart  and  soul,  and  love  to  our  neigh- 
bor as  to  ourselves,  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  an  indication  of  the  highest  possible  attainment  in  grace. 

This  is  enough.  Religion,  with  Dr.  Davis,  was  a  perennial 
fountain,  a  steadily  flowing  stream,  nourishing  inward  virtues, 
refreshing  the  spirit,  and  consecrating  daily  activities.  It  was 
pre-eminently  a  spiritual  force — not  a  form,  nor  a  ceremony,  nor 
a  sentiment,  but  a  principle  of  life,  animating,  controlling,  vivify- 
ing and  directing,  both  the  inner  states  of  the  soul  and  the  out- 
ward conduct  of  life. 

Then,  if  this  estimate  be  at  all  just,  there  are  lessons  in  such 
a  life  for  all  classes.  The  physician  will  discern  in  it  traits 
worthy  of  imitation.  Xot  the  least  important  will  be  unswerv- 
ing devotion  to  the  profession.  Dr.  X.  S.  Davis  was  wedded  to 
his  calling.  He  believed  in  it,  he  loved  it,  he  magnified  it,  and 
therefore  its  duties  and  its  sacrifices  were  a  delight  to  him.  Its 
commercial  aspects  were  not  the  attractions  that  held  him  to  it. 
He  never  determined  its  value  by  its  revenues.  From  his  young 
manhood  down  to  old  age  he  saw  it  in  its  higher  relations  as  the 
servant  of  humanity.  It  was  not  a  trade,  but  a  philanthropic 
movement,  a  storehouse  of  blessings  for  the  afflicted,  while  the 
physician  was  God's  prepared  almoner  for  the  distribution  of 
these  needed  mercies.  It  was  this  exalted  conception  of  the 
profession  that  inspired  his  faithfulness  and  industry  in  it,  and 
it  was  his  lov€  for  the  vprk  and  his  industrv  that  brought  him 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE  1 43 

to  eminence  and  honor  among  his  fellow  workers  in  the  same  . 
field. 

Another  lesson  from  this  life  is  that  manhood  counts.  This 
is  true  in  every  profession,  in  every  calling,  and  every  sphere 
of  life.  Genuineness  in  the  man  is  always  at  a  premium.  Neither 
learning,  nor  skill,  nor  polish,  nor  family,  will  be  a  substitute  for 
character.  The  doctor  is  nothing  without  genuineness.  His 
business  and  his  relations  with  all  classes  of  people  demand  it. 
Dr.  Davis  could  be  trusted.  His  honor  was  above  suspicion.  He 
was  genuine.  He  v/as  also  kind  of  heart,  a  lover  of  good  men, 
tender  towards  the  weak  and  erring,  and  a  terror  to  quacks  and 
-pretenders.  He  was  a  good  hater.  He  despised  shams,  and 
fads,  and  meannesses.  Towards  these  he  v/as  brusque.  Hi? 
speech  was  terse.  To  express  his  thoughts  of  things  disagree- 
able in  professional  life,  required  no  visit  to  the  circumlocution 
•office.  Even  this  terseness  was  a  mark  of  his  genuineness. 
Hypocrisy  was  no  part  of  his  nature.  In  all  things  he  was  manly 
.and  true. 

Let  me  add  another  lesson :  Christian  faith  is  not  a  detriment 
in  any  calling.  The  man  who  loves  God,  and  loves  his  fellow- 
:men,  and  practices  the  moralities,  and  the  self-denials,  and  chari- 
ties, and  the  philanthropies  of  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  is 
better  for  it,  more  fully  trusted,  even  by  selfish  and  worldly  men, 
and  has  higher  motives  for  unselfish  labors,  and  stronger  incen- 
tives to  the  studies  and  duties  which  assure  success,  than  he 
could  otherwise  possibly  have.  The  whole  world  will  honor  the 
studious,  successful,  godly.  Christian  physician,  and  no  one  can 
hold  a  higher  place  in  the  popular  esteem.  He  is  of  necessity  a 
benefactor,  and  like  all  workers  in  lines  of  benevolence  he  finds 
large  compensation  in  the  consciousness  of  doing  good  and  of 
being  helpful  to  the  sufifering  and  needy.  He  fives  in  the  sun- 
shine of  God's  favor  and  is  cheered  by  the  approval  of  his  fellow- 
men. 

It  was  a  great  and  spontaneous  gathering  of  the  fellow  citizens  of  Dr. 
'Davis,  including  all  ranks  and  classes,  and  their  attitude  of  deep  respect 
was  gratifying  evidence  of  their  estimate  of  the  man  whose  memory  they 
:^strove  to  honor. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Commemorative  Tablet. 

On  the  24th  of  ]\Iarch,  1905,  the  graduating  class  of  the  Northwestern 
University  ^ledical  School  placed  a  bronze  tablet,  in  memory  of  Dr.  Davis, 
in  "Davis  Hall"  one  of  the  buildings  occupied  by  the  medical  school.  The 
exercises  were  attended  by  nearly  the  entire  faculty  and  student  body,  and 
were  appropriate  and  interesting. 

A  photograph  of  the  tablet  is  reproduced,  and  the  commemorative  ad- 
dresses are  quoted  herewith : 

By  Dr.  E.  AA' yllys  Andrews : — Dr.  Davis  was  a  many-sided 
man.  His  career  as  a  physician  presents  many  phases  which  in- 
terest us.  We  can  learn  most,  perhaps,  by  dwelling  to-day  on 
only  one  phase  of  that  great  life  work. 

His  whole  medical  career  seems  to  me  so  strongly  to  point 
the  moral  of  the  absolute  necessity  for  hard,  intelligent  work, 
that  everything  else  in  his  life,  even  his  own  brilliant  and  varied 
talents,  sink  into  insignificance  in  comparison.  Is  it  not 
well  to  put  before  ourselves  plainl}-  what  we  all  secretly 
admit — that  nothing  but  strenuous,  imremitting  work  can  bring 
about  such  a  career?  Is  there  a  great  business  or  institution  in 
-  the  world  which  has  been  built  up  or  which  will  stay  built  up 
except  on  the  foundation  of  somebody's  ceaseless  toil?  Can  you 
march  an  army  or  an  exhibition  a  thousand  miles  without  taking 
one  by  one  the  millions  of  steps  which  make  up  the  distance? 

Dr.  Davis  reached  the  goal  before  most  of  his  competitors 
because  he  took  the  first  and  second  and  every  succeeding  step 
earlier  than  they.  He  took  the  first  step  in  the  right  direction 
because  he  had  more  faith  in  his  conipass — which  was  principle 
and  trust  in  right  for  right's  sake. 

He  did  hard,  detail,  scientific  work  in  early  life  which 
brought  him  recognition  all  over  the  country.  He  continued, 
after  the  age  when  Dr.  Osier  says  men  should  retire,  to  do 
an  amount  of  work  which  would  put  most  of  us  up-to-date, 
but  ease-loving,  workers  to  shame.  It  is  not  a  man's  years, 
but  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  his  intellectual  output  which 


COMMEMORATIVE  '1  AliEEl' 

decides  the  question  of  how  old  he  is.  judged  by  this  test  manv 
youno-  men  have  premature  atheroma  and  arterio-sclerosis. 

This  is  why  men  Hke  Dr.  Davis  (it  is  perhaps  as  well  for 
our  comfort  there  are  very  few  of  them)  soon  pass  us  com- 
moner and  short-sighted  fellows.  A'ery  few  of  us  have  the 
long  view.  We  have  no  very  accurate  chart  of  our  future 
course.  We  have  to  earn  and  enjoy  a  fair  living  and  rest 
when  we  are  old,  but  we  see  no  clear  picture  beyond  the  near 
distance. 

Of   course    we   are   unconsciously   moulded   by    the   average 


145 


NM 


-^■-^■f  MEMOKx 


TH-DAVIS 

1817—1904 


y  4in'  "^-t^  ?jfV  •'*.•; 


,'J%,'^,  kw 


tone  of  our  colleagues,  and  we  grow  to  be  like  them — average  in 
everything.  Our  professional  standards  are  a  composite  of  the 
impressions  left  by  the  better  class  of  physicians  who  live  the 
blameless  professional  life  and  pass  away  in  honor. 

But  more  than  that  mere  silent  or  negative  influence,  the 
silent  lives  of  men  like  Davis  create  new  standards.  He  wrote 
the  Code  of  Ethics  which  rules  our  conduct,  but  he  did  more  than 
live  this  code.  It  savs  "Thou  shalt  not"  do  certain  things.  Davis 
was  not  merely  a  man  of  negatives,  but  lived  the  strenuous, 
creative  life  of  a  pioneer. 

Pioneers  need  to  be  stalwart  men.     It  required  a  bold  mind 


146  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

to  conceive  and  carry  out  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  from- 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Oregon  coast  a  century  ago.  It  sounded. 
hke  an  impossible  dream  and  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  most  leaders.  There  was  something  of  the  pioneering  spirit- 
about  Dr.  Davis.  He  saw  things  which  no  one  around  him  had 
thought  of.  He  saw  in  the  far  future  a  handful  of  half-educated- 
provincial  doctors  transformed  into  the  organized  great  profes- 
sion of  modern  America.  He  saw  paltr}-  one-year  medical 
schools  developing  into  the  modern  university,  and  he  strove  with- 
out ceasing  for  sixty  years  to  bring  it  about. 

Had  he  not  the  same  prophetic  vision  as  Lewis  and  Clark 
of  the  far-away  modern  ocean  of  his  hopes,  and  the  same  in- 
spiring courage  in  the  face  of  obstacles?  Is  this  mere  poetical 
license,  or  was  it  not  rather  the  simple,  accurate  picture  of  the 
world  strenuous  life  work  of  Dr.  Davis?  Can  you  put  your 
finger  on  a  minute  when  he  was  not  hurrying,  striving  and  urg- 
ing others  toward  the  sunset  shore  whose  image  he  saw  iit 
early  life? 

There  he  was  in  New  York,  a  young  physician,  urging,  be- 
seeching, driving  the  indifferent  doctors  of  his  state  to  organize,. 
to  define  and  regulate  medical  education.  They  thought  he  was. 
a  one-ideaed  man  and  were  pretty  slow  to  follow  him. 

There  he  was  in  middle  life,  still  organizing  state  and  na- 
tional societies  and  even  visiting  Europe  to  further  international 
unions.  Xow,  he  was  carrying  out  his  ideas  of  medical  gradsd 
education  in  a  school  founded  for  this  sole  purpose,  the  only 
one  of  its  kind  in  America. 

There  he  was  again  in  advanced  years  still  hammering  on 
the  same  .anvil,  still  the  acknowledged  leader  and    Nestor    of 
the  American  profession,  the  real   spirit  and  motive  power   of 
the  American   ^Medical  Association  as  lie  had  been   ever   since- 
it  was  founded  by  his  hand. 

When  past  sixty  he  undertook  the  tremendous  task  of  pub- 
lishing and  editing  the  Journal  of  the  American  JMedical  Asso- 
ciation, now  the  largest  journal  in  the  world.  For  years  he 
managed  and  edited  this  journal,  and  its  form  has  never  been 
changed  since  he  founded  it.  There,  in  the  councils  of  this  great 
Association,  he  is  to-day,  though  not  in  the  flesh;  for  the  strenu- 
ous fight  which  the  Association  Council  is  making  to  raise  medi- 
cal education,  to  bind  together  the  scattered  profession  of  this 
land,  is  the  Davis  spirit,  still-  marching  on  after  his  body  is  in 
the  erave. 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

Talk  about  your  bronze  tablet !  That  Association  is  a  greater 
and  more  enduring  monument  than  the  finest  bronze.  This 
school  and  the  principles  it  represents,  will  outlive  all  build- 
ings, monuments,  and  men  now  living  and  many  yet  to  come. 
Is  there  any  man  like  Davis  now  among  us?  If  there  is  any 
one  of  us  with  such  leadership  of  men,  tenacity  of  purpose  and 
high  ideals,  he  too,  will  go  far,  endure  long,  and  rise  high  in 
this  or  any  other  honorable  career. 


DR.    N.    S.    DAVIS    AND    MEDICAL   EDUCATION. 

By  George  W.  Webster,  M.  D. : — Any  estimate  of  the  value 
of  the  service  rendered  by  Dr.  Davis  to  the  cause  of  Medical 
Education  must  be  based  on  a  very  broad  view  of  the  sub- 
ject and  must  include  a  knowledge  of  conditions,  especially  as 
they  obtained  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  must  also 
be  looked  at  from  his  viewpoint. 

At  the  time  of  the  achievement  of  the  Independence  of  the 
States  in  1776,  the  population  of  the  13  Colonies  was  about  three 
millions.  Scattered  among  these  Colonies  from  Massachusetts 
to  Georgia  were  about  3,500  men  engaged  in  the  practice  of  med- 
icine. Of  these,  approximately  400  had  received  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  There  were  two  medical  colleges,  the  Medical  College 
of  Philadelphia,  now  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  1765,  and 
the  Medical  Department  of  Kings  (now  Columbia  College),  in 
New  York,  1768.  Prior  to  the  Revolution,  both  these  schools 
had  conferred  only  51  medical  degrees,  and  active  operations 
in  both  colleges  were  suspended  by  the  progress  of  the  war. 
Only  three  medical  societies  are  known  to  have  been  organized 
during  the  colonial  period  of  our  history.  In  only  two  colonies 
were  there  any  laws  or  rules  regulating  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine. Thus,  in  1776,  there  were  3,400  practitioners  supplying 
three  million  people  scattered  over  13  states,  two  medical  col- 
leges and  two  medical  societies. 

In  the  period  from  1776  to  18 10,  seven  medical  colleges 
were  organized.  In  the  next  30  years,  26  new  medical  schools 
appeared,  making  the  total  35.  Between  1830  and  1845,  the 
number  more  than  doubled,  leading  to  active  rivalry,  and  a  com- 
petition which  aimed  mostly  at  an  increased  number  of  students, 


147 


Students. 

Graduates. 

Colleges, 

650 

100 

7 

2,500 

800 

35 

6,500 

2,200 

64 
157 

148  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

and  fees  for  -the  pockets  of  the  teachers.  These  schools  were 
generally  private  enterprises,  at  times  openly  and  avowedly  busi- 
ness ventures ;  at  times  they  took  on  the  guise  of  departments  of 
some  established  seat  of  learning;  rarely  endowed,  and,  by  their 
very  nature,  little  calculated  to  give  their  graduates  more  than 
the  merest  smattering  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Science  and  Art 
of  Medicine. 

Population    of    Colonies 

1810 7,239,881 

1840 17,069,453 

1876 40,000,000 

1904 75,000,000 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  Medical  Education,  of  the 
Mechcal  Association,  1850,  said:  "^Medical  Education  is  de- 
fective because  there  are  too  manv  medical  schools ;  the  teach- 
ers are  too  few.  There  are  too  many  students.  The  cjuantity  of 
medicine  taught  is  too  limited ;  the  quality  is  too  superficial, 
and  the  mode  of  bestowal  of  the  honors  of  medicine  too  pro- 
fuse and  unrestricted."  This,  bear  in  mind,  W'as  at  a  time  when 
the  science  and  art  of  medicine  occupied  a  narrow,  a  very 
narrow  field ;  when  obstetrics  was  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of 
midwives ;  surgery  was  an  appendage  of  anatomy ;  chemistry, 
physiology  and  pathology,  and  histology  scarcely  known  at  all, 
bacteriology,  antiseptics  and  anaesthetics  not  even  dreamed  of, 
the  course  consisted  of  two  repetitional  courses  of  13  to  16 
weeks,  and  the  diploma  everywhere  conferred  the  right  to  prac- 
tice medicine,  and  for  many  long  years  afterwards,  namely, 
1877,  even  this  was  not  demanded.  So  much  for  the  condi- 
tions. Now,  how  did  he  view  them,  and'  what  did  he  do  to  im- 
prove them  ?  In  this  connection,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote 
some  of  his  own  words.  On  page  17,  of  the  history  of  the 
American  ]\Iedical  Association,  publish  in  1855,  he  says,  "So, 
too,  bv  the  association  of  mind  with  mind,  in  the  rapidly  recur- 
ring anniversary  of  meetings  of  the  learned,  not  only  in  thought 
made  to  elicit  thought,  and  the  generous  ambition  of  one  made 
to  kindle  a  kindred  impulse  in  another,  but  the  rich  and  varied 
fruits  of  many  intellects  are  brought  to  a  common  storehouse, 
and  made  the  common  property  of  all ;  for  intellectual  treasures, 
unlike  those  of  a  material  nature,  neither  became  monopolized 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET  I49 

by  conceiitratioh,  lost  by  use,  nor  diminished  by  diffusion  or  com- 
munication to  others." 

Again  he  says  in  his  report  on  Medical  Education  in  the 
United  States  to  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
published  in  1877:  "No  apology  is  necessary  for  including 
Medical  Societies  among  the  educational  institutions  of 
our  profession ;  for  whatever  increases  the  enterprise,  stimu- 
lates the  spirit  of  philosophical  investigation,  or  adds  an  item  to 
the  stock  of  knowledge  possessed  by  the  profession,  or  what- 
ever elevates  it  in  the  scale  of  social  existence,  is  as  truly  a  part 
of  its  educational  means  as  is  the  study  of  the  text  books  and  the 
frequenting  of  the  schools."  "The  latter  may,  indeed,  consti- 
tute the  foundation,  but  many  other  things  are  required  to  com- 
plete the  superstructure  of  a  fair  medical  education."  "And 
among  these  other  things,  no  one  is  of  greater  importance  than 
well  organized  organizations,  admitting  of  frequent  communica- 
tion and  free  interchange  of  thought  among  their  members. 
Such  association  not  only  elicit  observations,  stimulate  investi- 
gations, and  save  from  oblivion  numberless  facts ;  but  they  coun- 
teract the  selfish  feelings  of  individuality,  they  diffuse  knowl- 
edge, they  elevate  the  social  feelings,  and  they  embody  and  gen- 
eralize facts  that  would  otherwise  remain  isolated  and  useless." 

We  thus  see  clearly  that  the  conditions  obtained  at  the  time 
lie  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  1840,  were  such  as  to  dis- 
hearten anyone  of  less  courage  or  less  enthusiasm.  We  also 
see  equally  clear  that  he  apprehended  perfectly  the  conditions 
which  obtained,  and  that  he  realized  fully,  and  seemed  to  be 
one  of  the  first  to  realize,  that  the  education  of  the  physician  is 
a  problem  which  does  not  begin  in  or  end  in  the  medical  school ; 
that  his  education  before  he  enters  the  medical  school  is  as  im- 
portant as  is  his  course  of  training  in  the  latter ;  and  that  his 
education  after  he  leaves  the  medical  school  is  a  more  important 
and  difficult  problem  than  either;  and  that  this  could  be  suc- 
cessfully accomplished  only  by  the  organization  of  the  medical 
profession  into  national,  state  and  local  medical  societies ;  and 
that  the  licensing  power  should  be  distinct  from  the  teaching 
function.  He  realized  that  the  man  who  is  the  greatest  teacher 
and  does  the  most  for  medical  education,  is  not  the  man  who 
teaches  well  his  own  little  class;  he  is  the  man  who  enunciates 
principles,  raises,  establishes  and  maintains  standards,  organ- 
izes societies  or  does  well  his  part  in  those  already  organized ; 


150  COAIAIEMORATIVE  TABLET 

who  does  not  follow  precedent,  blindly,  but  establishes  new  pre- 
cedents; is  not  a  follower  but  a  leader  of  strong  men  and  a 
ruler  of  weak  ones ;  who  is  not  simply  the  result  of  his  environ- 
ment, but  makes,  creates  new  environment  and  thus  creates  new 
conditions.     *     *     '■' 

These  facts,  together  with  his  native  ability,  explain  in  some 
measure  his  breadth  of  view,  solidity  of  argument,  fluency  of 
speech  and  aptness  of  illustration  which  contributed  so  much  to 
his  fame  as  an  orator,  as  a  clinical  teacher,  and  as  an  organizer. 

^  ^  ^ 

Let  us  then  not  merely  recite  his  precepts  and  catalogue  his 
attainments  and  virtues,  but  let  us  rather  emulate  his  example. 
Let  us  here  highly  resolve  to  take  an  interest,  a  human  interest 
in  correlated  branches  of  knowledge,  and  let  us  study  the 
social  organisms  as  well  as  the  human  organism;  let  us  cultivate 
anything  which  will  bring  us  nearer  to  our  fellow  men,  broaden 
our  intelligence  and  widen  our  humanity  and  extend  our  in- 
fluence. 

You  will,  perhaps,  little  know  nor  long  remember  what  I 
say  here,  but  you  must  never  forget  what  he  did  here.  Monu- 
ments, tablets  and  eulogy  are  for  the  dead,  but  no  words  of 
ours,  no  human  speech  can  add  anything  to  his  fame,  augment 
the  gratitude,  the  grateful  homage  which  we  here  offer  as  a 
loving  tribute  to  his  memory. 

And  now,  at  last,  the  evening  of  life  has  come,  the  shadows 
are  lengthening  along  the  land,  the  "embers  of  red  are  turn- 
ing to  ashes  of  gray,"  with  one  hand  clasped  in  the  hand  of  her 
who,  throughout  life  had  been  his  comfort,  his  hope,  his  solace, 
his  very  life,  he  lies  down  to  his  last  long  sleep.  The  silver 
cord  is  loosed,  the  golden  bowl  broken,  and  the  spirit  has  re- 
turned to  the  God  who  gave  it. 


NATHAN   SMITH   DAVIS   AS   A    MAN. 

By  E.  C.  Dudley: — Great  men  are  modest.  It  is  said  that 
when  the  King  of  France  sent  his  courtiers  to  decorate  ]\Iichael 
Faraday  for  the  great  discoveries  in  science  which  he  had  made 
they  found  in  an  attic,  seated  on  a  rough  board  by  the  side  of 
a  rude  table,  a  man  of  plain  appearance,  of  simple  garb  and  of 
primitive,     though    gentle     manner.       Judging    him     by    their 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET  I5I 

own  artificial  standards  they  directed  him  to  conduct  them  to 
the  great  scientist,  Michael  Faraday,  when  he  replied,  "I  am 
Faraday."  The  courtiers,  thinking  to  make  amends  for  an  un- 
fortunate blunder,  then  continued,  "Will  the  great  scientist 
show  us  his  laboratory,  and  will  he  show  us  the  instruments  and 
appliances  with  which  he  has  made  his  wonderful  discoveries?" 
Whereupon  Faraday  replied,  "This  is  my  laboratory,"  and  point- 
ing to  some  copper  wire,  a  few  fragments  of  carbon,  a  block  of 
zinc  and  some  jars  containing  acids  and  other  chemicals,  "these 
are  the  appliances  with  which  my  discoveries  were  made." 

So  many  of  the  greatest  achievements,  whether  in  litera- 
ture, art,  commerce,  statesmanship,  philanthropy  or  science  have 
been  realized  by  men  of  primitive  environment,  of  humble  ante- 
cedents, of  meagre  equipment,  of  apparently  inadequate  pre- 
liminary training,  that  the  question  may  well  be  raised,  to  what 
extent  are  environment,  training,  equipment  and  appliances  with 
all  their  well-known  value  essential  to  success  in  the  pursuit  of 
high  purpose?  In  reply  to  this  question  it  may  be  sufficient  to 
say  that  the  honest,  simple,  clear,  truthful  man,  whose  memory 
we  cherish,  whose  achievements  depended  upon  few  advantages, 
of  conventional  early  education  was,  in  his  capacity  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  this  school,  foremost  to  insist  upon  a  high  degree  of 
general  and  technical  training  as  prerequisite  to  professional 
study.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  even  though  he  may  have  rec- 
ognized a  definite  compensation  in  character  and  physique  for 
the  man  of  native  power  whose  early  life  is  passed  close  to  na- 
ture outside  the  great  scholastic  centers,  yet  his  very  deficien- 
cies would  have  made  him  the  last  to  consider  his  own  remarkable 
career  as  a  possible  protest  against  broad,  generous  scholar- 
ship. In  speculating  on  the  relative  result  which  might  have 
followed  had  Dr.  Davis  been  a  product  of  the  metropolis,  and 
the  great  university  instead  of  the  farm  and  district  school,  and 
in  estimating  what  essential  advantage  undergraduate  college 
training  might  have  given  him,  we  must  draw  a  differential  be- 
tween two  classes  of  individuals:  First,  the  many  of  average 
intellectual  power,  who  with  adequate  equipment  and  work  may 
hope  to  attain  a  degree  of  usefulness  and  distinction;  second, 
the  few  of  highest  natural  endowment,  who  by  force  of  mere 
intellect  and  sheer  ability  and  industry  must  of  necessity  rise 
to  the  ve"ry  top — on  the  one  hand  there  is  a  possible  eleva- 
tion of  mediocrity  by  which  the  valley  may  be  leveled  and  filled ; 


152  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

on   the  other,   there   is   an  exalted  genius,   which  regardless   of 
trappings  and  of  what  to  it  might  be  only  superficial  adornment, 
always  takes  its  proper  place  as  does  the  mountain  top  in  the 
clear  Avhite  light  above  the  clouds.     To  the  second  royal  class  ■ 
belongs  Dr.  Davis. 

The  King  is  no  subject;  he  is  to  be  judged  neither  by  per- 
spective nor  by  tradition,  nor  by  fashion  nor  by  conventionali- 
ties, for  he  makes  perspective;  he  makes  tradition;  he  makes 
fashion;  he  makes  conventionaHties.  There  is  then  less  of  es- 
sential value  in  conventionalities,  in  fashion  for  such  a  man.  be- 
cause the  vantage  ground  on  which  the  force  of  intellect  and 
the  genius  of  industry  place  him,  makes  him  singularly  independ- 
ent of  the  ordinary  and  current  scholastic  polish  which,  for  the 
most  of  us  would  appear  to  be  indispensable. 

Grant's  ^Memoirs  of  the  Civil  War,  written  on  his  death- 
bed, with  almost  superhuman  fortitude  against  fatal  and  wasting 
disease,  at  once  commanded  the  admiration  of  scholars  as  a 
rugged,  terse,  vigorous,  clear-cut  example  of  English  composi- 
tion. A  single  adverse  review,  however,  came  from  the  pen  of 
a  professor  of  rhetoric,  who  appeared  to  imagine  that  he  was 
doing  the  world  a  service  in  pointing  out  certain- passages  of 
Grant's  book,  which  to  his  mind,  did  not  conform  to  scholastic 
usage.  This  review  was  an  estimate  by  a  critical  rhetorician  of 
the  work  of  a  constructive  rhetorician.  'Mr.  Clemens  reviewed 
the  review  in  words  somewhat  as  follows :  If  we  should  climb 
the  IMatterhorn  and  find  strawberries  growing  on  the  top,  we 
might  be  surprised  and  gratified,  but.  Great  God,  we  do  not 
cUmb  the  ISIatterhorn   for   strawberries. 

Emerson  must  have  had  in  mind  a  man  like  Dr.  Davis 
when  he  said,  "I  wish  I  could  teach  my  children  the  world's 
greatest  lesson,  absence  of  pretension."  If  -any  one  of  us  should 
raise  the  question  whether  it  is  ever  justifiable  to  give  a  nervous 
patient  a  placebo — for  example,  a  hypodermic  of  water,  pre- 
tending that  it  was  morphine,  or  by  inference  to  create  the  im- 
pression that  he  had  made  an  accurate  diagnosis  when  he  knew 
he  had  not.  or  to  venture  upon  a  favorable  prognosis  in  a  doubt- 
ful case,  or  to  pav  or  to  receive  a  commission  for  the  purchase 
or  sale  of  a  patient,  or  to  undertake  the  responsible  treatment 
of  a  case  when  he  knew  another  would  be  more  efficient,  or  to 
pose  in  anv  way  for  the  mere  eft'ect  upon  the  multitude,  let  him 
ask  himself:     What  would  have  been  Dr.  Davis'  answer? 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

The  extraordinary  mental  integrity  o^f  this  man  was  dn 
large  degree  owing  to  the  habit  which  he  must  have  formed 
early  in  life  of  never  deceiving  anyone,  least  of  all  himself;  of 
never  pursuing  the  indirect  method ;  of  never  wanting  the  cour- 
age of  his  convictions ;  of  never  stopping  short  of  the  point, 
for  '"it  doth  follow  as  the  night  the  day"  that  mental  integrity 
and  a  closely  associated  brain  and  nerve  nutrition  are  in  very 
large  measure  dependent  upon  truth  and  directness  and  brav- 
ery. The  influence  of  such  integrity  on  the  life  and  efficiency  of 
the  individual  is  incalculable,  it  is  a  solace  in  time  of  trial ;  it  is 
a  resource  against  calamity;  it  is  the  unic[ue  and  telling  quality 
of  a  great  man  by  which  he  estimates  men  and  things  at  their 
true  value ;  by  which  he  pricks  bubbles ;  by  which  he  check- 
mates the  false  player  and  bankrupts  the  selfseeker ;  by  which  he 
strikes  things  like  a  bullet  between  the  eyes.  By  virtue  of  this 
quality  he  has  a  clear  advantage  in  the  realization  of  two  essen- 
tial criteria  of  a  successful  life — advanced  age  without  handi- 
cap, and  achievement  without  embarrassment.  We  go  to  the 
house  of  such  a  man  not  to  see  his  draperies  and  ornaments,  nor 
even  his  pictures  and  books ;  these  are  all  subordinate — we  go 
to  see  him.  As  was  said  of  a  Spanish  prince :  "The  more  you 
take  from  him,  the  more  he  appears  to  have,  the  greater  he  ap- 
pears to  be." 

Dr.  Davis  was  more  creative  than  speculative;  his  intel- 
lectual processes  more  concrete  than  abstract;  his  work  usu- 
ally constructive,  seldom  destructive ;  he  never  talked  about 
what  he  was  going  to  do^  he  did  it.  He  joined  the  rugged, 
primitive,  simple  qualities  of  the  traditional  pioneer  to  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  scholar,  the  teacher  and  the  man  of  affairs.  He 
was  broad  enough  to  look  beyond  the  narrow  confines  of  his 
calling,  to  appreciate  the  relation  of  things  outside,  and,  putting 
his  profession  on  a  high  plane,  to  put  the  world  even  higher. 
Education  owes  him  much ;  the  university  owes  him  much ; 
the  world  owes  him  much.  Although  for  some  time  he  had 
ceased  to  fill  his  accustomed  chair,  the  students  of  the  medical 
school  could  look  to  him  as  a  living  example,  as  a  guide,  as  a 
sympathetic  friend. 

Those  of  us  members  of  the  faculty,  who  to  him  were  once 
the  younger,  as  to  you  we  are  now  the  older  members,  have 
endured  a  loss  not  greater  but  more  personal  than  yours,  for  he 
had  kept  in  touch  v/ith  us  from  the  first.     He  had  rejoiced  in 


i5s 


154  COMAIEMORATIVE  TABLET 

our  triumphs,  were  they  few  or  many,  and  he  had  mourned  over 
our  faults. 

Men,  Hke  trees,  may  die  at  the  top,  not  necessarily  from 
recognized  pathological  degeneration  of  the  brain,  but  from  dis- 
use of  the  brain,  and  consequent  arrest  of  growth,  and  so,  al- 
though mentally  reduced  almost  to  the  vanishing  point,  may  live 
on,  and  on,  and  on,  with  little  or  no  impairment  of  the  general 
nutrition.  But  fortunately  there  is  no  fixed  period  even  in  the 
longest  life  when  the  mental  faculties  of  man  recede  so  far  as  nec- 
essarily to  shut  out  new  thought,  to  render  the  individual  in- 
capable of  rising  to  new  heights.  As  the  leaves  under  favor- 
able conditions  of  nutrition  may  continue  green  on  the  topmost 
branch  of  the  old  tree  which  long  ago  became  hollow  in  the 
trunk,  and  which  now  is  drawing  its  sap  mostly  through  the 
bark,  so  any  man,  young  or  old,  who  would  not  die  at  the  top 
must  make  the  conditions  favorable,  must  strive  to  forget  self 
and  to  cultivate  interests  larger  than  themselves.  He  must  take 
care  to  remain  mentally  young,  and  still  "blooming  at  the  top 
amid  the  frost  of  years,"  he  must  not  surrender  to  the  sordidness 
and  discontent,  the  garrulity  and  inertia  of  a  decaying  old  age, 
and  thus  like  our  old  friend  he  may  gladden  the  world,  "the 
last  leaf  on  the  tree,"  having  survived  the  winter  blast  and  in 
the  second  spring,  not  seared  and  mellow,  but  still  green  and 
iilled  with  the  fare  and  enthusiasm  of  youth. 

To  epitomize  from  some  of  the  appreciations  which  the  life 
and  death  of  this  man  have  brought  out :  We  have  seen  him 
a  youth  of  sixteen  following  the  plough,  and  for  a  single  session 
■only  going  to  the  village  academy;  serving  as  an  apprentice 
with  a  country  doctor,  and  in  1837,  after  a  period  of  less  than 
three  3^ears  of  study,  taking  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  at 
the  age  of  twenty ;  displaying  strength  of  mind  and  character 
and  refusing  to  be  misled  by  his  great  natural  gifts,  refusing  to 
imagine  that  even  genius  without  adequate  education  can  make 
a  competent  physician;  "early  gathered  about  him  in  Bingham- 
ton,  X.  Y.,  a  following  of  medical  students  whom  he  instructed 
and  inspired;"  in  1843,  serving  his  County  Society  as  a  dele- 
gate at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  ^Medical  Associa- 
tion, and  breaking  new  ground  by  making  his  first  appeal  for 
a  higher  standard  of  medical  education ;  leading  a  national  con- 
A^ention  of  delegates  from  hospitals  and  medical  colleges  who 
came  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  to  deliberate  on  the  best 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET  i:^:; 

measures  to  improve  medical  education  and  thus  founding-  the 
American  Aledical  Association ;  becoming  President  and  the 
most  distinguished  leader  of  that  organization;  in  1849  settling 
in  Chicago  and  early  and  strongly  identifying  himself  with  the 
educational,  moral,  scientific  and  sanitary  progress  of  the  city; 
filling  a  professorship  at  Rush  Medical  College;  taking  a  lead- 
ing part  in  the  councils  both  on  the  floor  and  in  the  Presidential 
chair  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society ;  establishing  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  placing  it 
on  a  substantial  scientific,  literary  and  financial  basis ;  presiding 
at  the  first. meeting  of  the  International  Medical  Congress  held 
in  the  United  States,  in  the  midst  of  the  onerous  duties  of  a  large 
private  practice,  in  the  midst  of  unremitting  ministrations  in 
times  of  epidemic,  continuing  to  teach,  to  write,  to  edit  and  to  co- 
operate "in  all  movements  for  the  common  good  in  which  his 
attention  was  claimed;"  taking  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
Northwestern  University,  The  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences, 
the  Illinois  State  Microscopical  Society,  the  Union  College  of 
Law,  and  the  Washingtonian  Home ;  being  himself  "greater  than 
his  knowledge,  than  his  deeds,  than  his  reputation;"  "teach- 
ing by  his  life  as  well  as  by  his  works ;"  having  abundant  oppor- 
tunity to  accumulate  riches,  but  like  Agassiz,  never  having  time 
to  get  money,  and  declaring"  that  he  would  be  humiliated  to  die 
in  possession  of  great  riches. 

We  are  commanded  "to  renew  unutterable  grief,",  for  we 
shall  see  him  no  m.ore.  Our  distinguished  leader  has  passed 
over  into  the  unknown,  leaving  behind  him  the  goodly  her- 
itage of  a  long  and  useful  and  honorable  life ;  a  striking  exam- 
ple of  new-world  manhood;  honest,  aggressive,  faithful,  fear- 
less, efficient,  adequate ;  full  of  well-directed  energy ;  raising  him- 
self to  the  highest  plane  of  human  endeavor  and  at  the  same 
time  drawing  others  up  with  him. 

Behold,  in  the  man  whom  this  tablet  symbolizes  an  epic  in 
courage,  integrity  and  achievement. 


DEDICATORY  ADDRESS. 

By  WilHam  O.  Krohn,  Ph.  D. : — The  Declaration  of  Ameri- 
can Independence  is  commonly  believed  to  have  been  promul- 
gated July  4,  1776,  when  in  fact  the  real  "declaration  of  inde- 
pendence"— independence    of   thought    and    action — the    Greater 


156  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

•American  Independence  dates  from  Aug.  31,  1837 — the  day  on 
which  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  gave  to  the  world  his  master  ora- 
tion— "The  American  Scholar."  As  we  glance  at  the  history  of 
medicine  in  this  country,  can  we  not  also  say  that  the  "declara- 
tion of  independence"  within  the  medical  profession  was  pro- 
mulgated when  such  men  as  the  one  whom  we  this  day  meet 
to  honor,  by  heroic  united  effort,  blazed  the  trail  that  led  their 
fellows  and  followers  in  the  medical  profession  along  new  paths 
entirely  and  forever  disassociated  from  mysticism,  superstition 
and  tradition  into  the  positivism  of  science? 

The  heroic  pioneers  in  the  world's  history  are  not  only  the 
explorers.  Cabot,  Columbus,  3.1agellan ;  they  are  not  only  those 
"hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water"  who  founded  our  Re- 
public, the  Adamses,  Washington,  Hamilton,  but  must  of  neces- 
sity include  those  other  brave  spirits — those  other  leaders  of 
thought  and  action  who  broke  away  from  servile  worship  of 
the  past  and  heroically  took  advanced  position  so  that  the}^  might 
the  better  seek  out  that  which  would  make  their  chosen  line  of 
work  of  greater  use  in  the  world. 

You  recall  the  inscription  over  the  peristyle  at  our  World's 
Fair  in  1893,  the  words  of  which  were  dedicated  to  the  pioneers 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty : 

"But  bolder  they  who  first  off-cast 
Their  moorings  from  the  habitable  past 
And  ventured  chartless  on  the  sea 
Of  storm-engendering  liberty." 

Do  not  these  words  also  apply  full  well  to  men  who,  like 
Nathan  Smith  Davis,  in  the  pioneer  days  of  their  particular 
branch  of  science  led  the  way  to  higher  and  better  things? 

The  members  of  this  class  have  been  told  to-day  of  the  qual- 
ities of  heart  and  brain  that  made  for  success  in  the  life  of  Dr. 
Davis — qualities  which  in  crowning  his  life  with  success,  en- 
riched the  lives  of  others  and  gave  to  the  honored  profession  of 
medicine,  new  vantage  ground.  It  may  be  the  boldest  presump- 
tion on  my  part  to  attempt  to  add  one  word  of  encomium,  but 
with  my  classmen  I  cannot  avoid  taking  note  of  two  or  three  con- 
spicuous attributes  of  the  personality  of  Dr.  Davis  that  not  only 
brought  him  the  joys  of  victory,  but  will  just  as  surely  make  for 
^    our  success  in  the  same  chosen  profession. 


COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET  I  57 

First — enthusiasm.  I  do  not  mean  the  enthusiasm  of  mere 
noise  that  makes  it  so  akin  to  idle  l)oastin,^'.  Some  medieal  men 
- — Hke  some  steamboats — u?e  much  of  their  steam  U>  run  the 
whistle.  The  rather  do  I  mean  that  quite  effective  enthusiasm 
that  shows  itself  in  deeds  accomplished.  This  quality  of  enthu- 
siasm in  Dr.  Davis  had  much  to  do  in  the  foimding-  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  the  betterment  of  hospital  facilities  in 
this  city,  and  the  improvement  of  medical  education.  This  en- 
thusiasm so  cjuietly  manifested,  was  the  continual  dropping'  that 
finally  wore  away  the  stones  of  opposition  in  his  pathway  as 
he  was  striving-  for  better  things  in  his  chosen  sphere  of  action. 
Without  such  enthusiasm  as  an  impelling  force,  not  one  of  us 
can  expect  to  succeed. 

Second — kindliness.  It  has  been  said  that  Dr.  Davis  was 
essentially  a  gruff  man — that  at  times  he  seemed  even  harsh  of 
manner.  But  those  who  knew  him  well  maintain  that  this  seem- 
ing harshness  of  manner  was  due  to  his  direct  method  of  state- 
ment arising  from  his  desire  to  get  at  the  gist  of  things.  His 
mind  naturally  was  so  keenly  analytic  that  he  deemed  it  suffi- 
cient to  state  facts  as  he  found  them,  shorn  of  any  of  the  soften- 
ing influences  of  rhetoric.  Dr.  Davis  dealt  with  hard  facts,  with 
little  or  no  time  for  sentimental  gush.  As  to  his  trait  of  kindli- 
ness, it  is  much  better  to  take  the  verdict  of  those  who  in  child- 
hood came  in  contact  v/ith  his  ennobling  life.  Some  of  the  solid 
business  men  of  Chicago  tell  me  of  Dr.  Davis'  acts  of  kindness 
of  which  they  had  positive  knowledge  and  personal  experience 
in  their  childhood — from  actually  coming  in  touch  with  his  mag- 
nificent personality,  and  these  kindly  acts  were  infinite  in  num- 
ber. His  whole  life  seemed  aetuated  by  the  one  fundamental 
purpose  of  doing  good,  and  the  love  of  the  children  for  him 
is  the  best  possible  indication  of  his  real  greatness  of  heart. 

He  loved  the  children — this  is  certain  because  they  loved 
him,  which  is  in  and  of  itself  positive  of  his  kindliness.  The 
words  of  the  poet  are  certainly  apropos  of  this  man : 

"Greatheart  loveth  a  little  child. 

No  matter  how  ragged  and  dirty,  he 

Opens  his  heart  if  a  child  it  be. 

He  loves  them  all.     They  hold  the  key 

To  a  heart  for  others  all  mystery. 

Greatheart  loveth  a  little  child. 


158  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

"Greatheart  loveth  a  little  child; 

He  knows  them  all  and  they  all  know  him ; 

To  them  he  never  seems  to  be  grim 

Or  gruff  or  grouty.     They  know  his  whim, 

Feeling  that  love  fills  his  heart  to  the  brim, 

Greatheart  loveth  a  little  child/' 

The  third  great  characteristic  was  his  definiteness  of  purpose, 
coupled  with  an  indomitable  will.  When  a  plan  was  once  de- 
vised he  would  not  relax  until  fruition  of  that  particular  plan 
was  attained.  To  this  one  quality — determination,  purposive 
will — more  than  to  any  other  single  attribute,  did  Dr.  Davis  owe 
his  marvelous  success.  And  in  the  field  of  medicine  as  in  the 
world  at  large,  there  is  nothing  so  much  needed  as  definiteness 
of  purpose  backed  by  stronger,  determined  will.  There  is  no 
character  so  despicable  as  the  weak-willed,  vacillating  individual, 
utterly  devoid  of  backbone,  who  drifts  hither  and  thither  down 
the  stream  of  time,  blown  about  by  the  wind  of  other  men's 
breath — nothing  more  or  less  than  a  rudderless  bark.  The 
world's  greatest  demand  to-day,  in  medicine  or  any  other  field 
of  laudable  activity,  is  for  men  of  determination  and  unflinching 
purpose — those  men  who  by  their  force  of  character  lift  themselves 
out  of  the  entangdements  that  environ  the  weakling  and  "live 
above  the  fog"  in  public  duty  and  private  thinking.  This  old 
world  of  ours  needs  strength  of  will  more  than  it  needs  passive 
goodness — it  needs  monstrous  engines  of  truth  more  than  it 
needs  psalm  singers. 

"There  is  no  chance,  no  destin}^,  no  fate, 

Can  circumvent,  or  hinder,  or  control 

The  firm  resolve  of  a  determined  soul. 

Gifts  count  for  nothing- :     Will  alone  is  great. 

All  things  give  way  before  it  soon  or  late. 

What  obstacle  can  stay  the  mighty  force 

Of  the  sea-seeking  river  in  its  course. 

Or  cause  the  ascending  orb  of  day  to  wait? 

"Each  well-born  soul  must  win  what  it  deserves, 
Let  the  fool  prate  of  luck — the  fortunate  is  he 
Whose  earnest  purpose  never  swerves 
The  one  great  aim..    Why  even  Death  stands  still 
And  waits  an  hour  sometimes,  for  such  a  will." 


COMMEMORATIVE  TAIUJCT  159 

Professor  Plummer,  the  class  of  1905  of  Northwestern  Uni- 
-vrersity  Medical  School,  has  met  with  you  and  other  members 
•of  the  faculty  this  day  to  honor  the  memory  of  Dr.  Nathan 
Smith  Davis,  so  long  identified  with  this  institution,  which  largely 
through  his  effort  has  come  to  stand  for  all  that  is  best  in  medi- 
cal education.  We  all  feel  that  in  our  endeavor  to  honor  Dr. 
Davis  we  in  that  very  act  honor  ourselves.  The  class  of  1905 
consider  it  a  peculiar  privilege  to  have  had  the  opportunity  to 
erect  this  bronze  tablet  to  the  sacred  memory  of  one  who  accom- 
plished so  much  for  medical  education  in  general,  and  for  this 
school  in  particular.  Though  but  very  few  of  us  ever  had  the 
joy  of  knowing  this  great  and  good  man  personally,  we  every 
one  of  us  appreciate  the  qualities  that  made  his  life  so  ennobling, 
so  enriching,  so  efficient,  so  wholesome,  and  to  this  end  we  all 
join  in  the  dedication  of  this  tablet. 

To  you,  Profesor  Plummer,  as  Secretary  of  the  Faculty  of 
"the  Northwestern  University  Aledical  School,  and  therefore  its 
executive  officer,  I,  on  behalf  of  the  Class  of  1905,  present  this 
bronze  Memorial.  The  entire  class  contributed  to  its  erection 
-with  the  laudable  purpose  that  it  might,  to  each  successive  class 
in  the  many  years  of  usefulness  before  this  school,  prove  a  re- 
minder of  those  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  that  go  to  make  up 
the  successful  physician.  As  the  students  of  the  various  classes 
in  succeeding  years  come  under  the  tutelage  of  yourself  and  your 
■colleagues  on  the  faculty,  they  should  come  face  to  face  with 
these  superb  qualities  which  we  as  a  class  admire  and  reverence 
.as  having  been  concreteh^  expressed  in  the  long  and  useful  life 
■  of  Dr.  Davis.  Will  you,  therefore  accept  this  tablet  from  us? 
The  Class  of  1905  gives  it  to  the  school  with  a  double  meaning 
— namely — as  a  token  of  our  regard  for  this  school,  and  in  ten- 
der, sacred  memory'  of  Nathan  Smith  Davis,  whose  life,  great 
and  good,  continues  to  make  the  earth  wholesome. 

In    accepting   the    memorial    tablet   Dr.    Plummer    spoke    as 
follows: 
Air.  Krohn  and  Members  of  the  Class  of  1905  : 

In  accepting,  on  behalf  of  the  faculty  of  the  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School,  this  tablet  in  memory  of  Doctor 
Nathan  Smith  Davis,  presented  by  the  class  of  1905,  I  do  so 
with  the  realization  that,  by  the  action  taken  to-day,  you  have 
made  not  only  the  faculty  of  this  institution,  but  the  alumni  and 
^students,  present  and  to  come,  your  debtors. 


l6o  /  COMMEMORATIVE  TABLET 

It  is  a  significant  fact,  to  my  mind,  that,  although  you,  as 
a  class,  did  not  enjoy,  as  did  so  many  classes  before  you,  the 
privilege  of  personal  contact  with  Doctor  Nathan  Smith  Davis, 
you  still  felt  inspired  to  erect  this  tablet  to  his  memory. 

Dr.  Davis  wielded  an  influence  for  his  high  ideals  and  en- 
thusiasm in  medicine,  v/hich  could  not  cease  with  his  death, 
but  which  will  be  potent  with  generations  of  students  who  will 
follow  you. 

Not  of  him  can  it  be  said  that  the  good  which  he  did  was 
interred  with  his  bones.  "Good  and  great,  he  maketh  the  earth 
wholesome." 

I  thank  you,  on  behalf  of  the  faculty,  for  this  appropriate 
memento.  i 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Tributes  of  Respect  from  Friends  and  Former  Pupils. 

In  this  chapter  the  author  has  the  pleasure  of  presenting-  several  tributes 
of  respect  and  appreciation,  from  surviving  friends  and  former  pupils  of 
Dr.  Davis.  A  very  much  larger  number  could  have  been  secured  by  simply 
asking  for  them,  but  they  would  only  have  been  repetitions  or  amplifications 
of  those  here  given,  and  it  was  deemed  quite  unnecessary. 

The  following  from  the  Rev.  M.  C.  Wilcox,  Ph.  D.,  a  missionary  of 
the  M.  E.  Church  in  Foochow,  China,  shows  how  Dr.  Davis  impressed 
young  theological  students  with  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  Dr.  Wil- 
cox is  a  scholar  whose  opinion  is  worth  having: 

"My  dear  Dr.  Danforth : 

It  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  you  are  preparing  a 
"life"  of  the  late  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  because  many  memories  of 
my  school  life  at  Evanston  w^ere  thereby  revived.  For  a  time 
I  belonged  to  a  Sunday  School  class'  taught  by  Dr.  Davis,  and 
even  to  the  present  time  I  continue  to  realize  the  benefit  de- 
rived from  his  method  of  Bible  study.  During  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  of  missionary  work  in  China  I  have  often  re- 
called this  remarkable  man — sometimes  so  severe  and  I  might  al- 
most say  rude  in  his  personal  bearing,  but  at  the  same  time 
really  kind  and  sympathetic  to  those  in  any  special  need  or 
-  sorrow. 

I   wish   you   great   success  in  your  labor  of  love   in   behalf 
of-  the  great  doctor's  memory  and  remain,  cordially  yours, 

M.  C.  Wilcox.'^ 

The  following  tribute  from  the  Rev.  Robert  H.  Pooley,  D.  D.,  a  prom- 
inent minister  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  at  present  Presiding  Elder  of 
Joliet  District  of  the  Rock  River  Conference,  is  a  graphic  description  of 
Dr.  Davis  "in  action"  as  a  Sunday  School  teacher,  in  which  capacity  he 
was  eminently  successful : 

"The  eminent  Hegel  is  said  to  have  had  sixteen  pupils,  every- 
one of  whom  understood  his  teaching  differently,  and  the  inter- 


l62  TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER   PUPILS 

pretation  of  everyone  of  these  would  have  been  repudiated  b}^ 
the  teacher  himself.  This  is  not  inspiring  for  any  pupil  now 
to  hasten  to  an  estimate  of  his  teacher,  yet  it  will  not  stop' 
judgments  of  the  same  as  eminent  men  round  up  their  genera- 
tions and  deposit  with  their  personality  all  that  is  to  continue 
of  abiding  interest  to  history. 

Human  leadership  must  always  be  the  absorbing  topic  because 
character  is  to  wear  forever.  When  Boswell  wrote  the  ideal 
life  of  Samuel  Johnson,  he  kept  before  us  a  character  which  was 
as  some  vast  mountain,  rising  from  a  plain,  that  could  not  lie,. 
could  not  be  taken  in,  and  never  hidden. 

Soon  after  coming  to  Evanston,  as  a  timid  youngster  from 
Grant's  old  Galena  home,  one  of  the  never-to-be-forgotten  men 
who  took  an  interest  in  me  vras  Dr.  Davis,  vvho  taught  a  Sun- 
day School  class,  never  being  late,  and  almost  never  absent. 
AA'hen  I  was  longing  for  a  young  man's  friend,  both  in  body  and 
soul,  I  presented  myself  to  the  Methodist  Sunday  School,  and 
was  conducted  to  a  young  men's  class  of  eight,  about  my  size^ 
At  once  I  found  myself  seated  before  a  judge-like,  austere,  com- 
manding-looking person,  that  remanded  me  of  Alarcus  Aurelius^^ 
or  one  of  the  sages  of  the  past.  I  could  scarcely  see  the  class 
for  the  teacher,  whose  presence  filled  the  circle  like  the  sun. 
the  solar  SA'Stem.  Instantly  he  set  his  burning  little  eyes  from 
under  those  shaggy  brows  upon  the  new-comer,  and  they  drew 
like  a  magnet,  going  through  my  innermost  soul.  For  a  moment 
I  feared  the  man,  but  after  his  kindly  voice  addressed  me,  I 
felt  he  was  the  3-oung  man's  friend,  and  through  the  hour  I 
studied  the  teacher  more  than  the  lesson,  even  while  he  threw 
to  the  foreground  the  attractions  of  the  lesson  and  not  him.self. 
My  first  impression  was,  this  man  cares  for  bo3-3 ;  secondly,  he 
is  bigger  than  the  lesson,  knows  it,  and -can  tell  it,  as  he  makes 
the  past  live  in  the  present.  Evidently  he  knew  how  to  preach 
sermons  as  well  as  diagnose  nerves  and  veins,  and  had  he  not 
been  a  doctor  would  have  been  a  clergyman.  1  saw  that  the  man 
behind  the  lesson  counted  like  the  man  behind  the  gun,  and  that 
a  ereat  teacher  could  not  come  out  of  a  little  man.  The  living 
fountain  of  the  teaching  is  after  all  in  personality,  and  abstract 
truths  are  little  until  they  burn  into  character  and  cope  thereby 
with  eternity. 

The  doctor  impressed  me  that  he  was  supernaturally  great 
as  a  man  and  naturallv  great  as  a  teacher,  who  found  the  greater 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS    AND    FORMER    PUPILS  163 

lesson  always  in  his  own  soul.  As  he  oathereJ  into  his  own  per- 
son both  heart  and  life  of  Jew  and  (Jentilc,  he  made  the  race 
appear  one  and  God  as  its  reasonable  Father. 

So  the  great  teacher  gave  us  of  his  own  soul  through  the  les- 
sons, without  ever  making  a  personal  reference. 

I  felt  he  was  approachable,  my  friend  to  do  me  good,  but 
the  moment  one  came  to  the  sacred  border  of  his  hidden  char- 
acter, he  might  as  well  strike  against  Gibralter  to  pass  through. 
A  great  man  is  always  a  mystery,  hence  always  of  interest. 

The  doctor  was  an  adept  in  Old  Testament  history ;  he  knew 
it  in  geography,  biography,  physiology  and  philosophy  like  a  b  c. 
And  while  he  was  perfectly  consumed  by  the  lesson,  he  was  more 
interested  in  us  boys.  He  knew  values.  The  quality  of  wisdom 
distinguishes  the  scholar  from  the  mere  learned  man.  He  was 
not  teaching  lessons,  but  boys,  upon  whom  he  set  his  heart,  well 
in  his  eyes,  like  a  searchlight.  He  looked  upon  a  boy  not  only 
as  a  fact,  but  much  more  as  a  possibility.  The  boy  he  could 
delightedly  spend  an  hour  with  as  a  virtuous  young  man.  was 
the  best  asset  of  the  country,  because  in  the  boy  the  Eternal  was 
the  thing  that  was  not  seen.  The  doctor  had  the  lesson  on  his 
mind  arid  us  boys  on  his  heart. 

I  do  not  know  whither  the  other  boys  liave  drifted  in  the 
world.  I  remember  almost  nothing  of  them,  but  the  great  teacher 
whose  mind  was  like  the  sky,  and  soul  was  like  the  ocean,  abides 
with  me  after  thirty  years,  still  impressing  me  with  the  strength 
of  his  character,  the  wisdom  of  his  mind  and  the  granite  of  his 
soul. 

Neither  did  he  discourage  his  class  by  the  idea  of  spiritual 
perfection  that  made  it  oppressive.  Rousseau  was  fool  enough 
to  think  himself  perfect,  while  his  life  roamed  amid  unnamable 
practices ;  but  the  impression  left  on  me  from  my  Sunday  School 
teacher  was  that  the  incapacity  of  the  saints  to  discover  their  own 
defects  was  in  itself  a  fault,  to  be  repented  of.  He  told  us  the 
ideal  was  something  rather  to  be  always  approached,  than  to 
ever  be  grasped,  and  that  the  Lord  credited  u.s,  not  so  much  by 
what  we  had  actually  achieved,  as  by  what  we  were  attempting 
and  dared  to  pursue ;  that  the  soul  was  the  incalculable  value, 
and  to  bring  that  into  proper  relation  to  God  became  the  true 
end  of  noblest  endeavor.  The  doctor  was  at  home  among  large 
thoughts.  His  teaching  ever  had  the  mark  of  Spiritual  force  and 
his  manner  real  power. 


164  TRIBUTES    OF   RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS    AND    FORMER    PUITLS 

The  Great  Artist  David  was  a  sceptic,  and  Raphael  a  rake, 
but  our  eminent  teacher  was  a  person  always  to  be  admired,  and 
never  forgotten — a  born  teacher — a  constitutional  moralist,  and 
a  wise  man  whom  a  thousand  years  hence  might  well  recall." 

R.  H.  POOLEY. 

Dr.  John  Hamilcar  Hollister,  for  many  years  the  intimate  friend  and 
colleague  of  Dr.  Davis,  has  been  kind  enough  to  send  me  the  just  and 
noble  tribute  that  follows.  There  is  probably  no  one  else  now  living  who 
knew  Dr.  Davis  so  well  and  intimately  as  Dr.  Hollister,  and  that  gives  an 
added  value  to  his  generous  and  beautiful  tribute: 

Character  sketching,  like  portrait  painting,  should  only  be 
committed  to  a  master  hand.  Only  a  somewhat  intimate  ac- 
quaintance reaching  back  for  fifty  years  warrants  this  reference 
to  the  life  of  Dr.  Nathan  Smith  Davis  and  the  elements  which 
contributed  to  his  eminent  success.  He  was  gifted  with  unusual 
mental  capacity.  He  had  the  power  of  quick  and  clear  per- 
ception of  the  relations  of  things.  He  was  also  by  nature  a  logi- 
cian. With  premises  clearly  stated  and  accurately  defined,  his 
reasonings  carried  conviction  and  rarely  failed  to  reach  logical 
conclusions. 

It  is  safe  to  say  of  him  that  rectitude  of  purpose  was  his 
dominant  characteristic,  and  he  was  so  pronounced  in  his  con- 
victions that  had  occasion  required  he  might  easily  have  been  a 
martyr  in  their  defense.  Such  ability  and  such  intensity  of 
conviction  were  only  equalled  by  his  tireless  industry.  To  him 
few  things  came  by  chance.  His  plans  were  well  thought  out 
and  the  means  for  their  accomplishment  well  matured.  His 
knowledge  of  men  was  rarely  at  fault  and  he  was  quick  to 
discern  those  who  could  serve  his  purpose  best.  In  legitimate 
ways  he  was  one  of  the  strongest  medical  politicians  in  the  pro- 
fession. By  private  correspondence  the  scope  and  character 
of  a  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  was  often  well 
outlined  before  its^session.  This  goes  largely  to  explain  the 
phenomenal  success  to  which  the  association  has  attained.  Never 
for  a  moment  giving  countenance  to  methods  or  deeds  that  were 
unworthy,  his  measures  vvcre  approved  by  reason  of  inherent 
worth. 

Dr.  Davis  was  strongly  grounded  in  the  Christian  faith  and 
his  views  of  professional  and  social  ethics  were  founded  upon 
the  Golden  Rule.     If  he  was  subject  to  criticism  it  came  from 


TRIBUTES    OF    RESPECT    FRO:\[    FRIENDS    AND    FORMER    PUI'ILS  165 

those  who  knew  him  least.  His  strongest  friends  were  tho<e 
who  knew  him  best. 

His  patience  was  sometimes  over-taxed,  and  when  an  in- 
vahd  coming  to  him  for  treatment  began  to  inform  him  of  his  or 
her  aihiient,  what  was  needfnl  for  their  cure,  they  were  briefly 
and  sometimes  tersely  advised  to  go  home  and  treat  themselves, 
and  not  trouble  him  by  seeking  advice  they  did  not  need. 

Yet  he  carried  within  his  breast  a  heart  ever  alive  to  suffer- 
ing, and  his  sympathy  for  the  poor  cost  him  years  of  unre(|uited 
toil,   save  the   richer   reward  which  money  cannot  buy. 

His  sympath}^  led  him  to  special  efforts  to  care  for  and  if 
possible  reform  inebriates,  and  the  Washingtonian  Home  is  a 
monument  to  his  memory.  He  had  a  specially  kind  regard  for 
indigent  medical  students,  and  not  a  few  found  material 
help,  of  which  no  note  was  made  aside  from  that  which  was 
written  in  their  hearts,  along  the  line  of  private  charity.  There 
are  pages  of  unwritten  history  of  the  social  events  incident  to  a 
nearly  life-long  acquaintance.  A  single  one  may  suffice.  It  was 
after  a  hot  day  in  August  after  the  bell  had  tolled  the  midnight 
hour  when,  coming  from  the  care  of  the  sick  the  doctor  and  the 
writer  met,  for  their  homes  were  opposite  in  the  street.  A  gentle 
breeze  was  coming  from  the  lake  and  the  moon  full-orbed  lent 
its  charm  till  we  forgot  the  heat  and  turmoil  of  the  day  just 
passed.  For  a  full  hour  or  more  Dr.  Davis  in  his  happiest  mood 
stated  three  of  the  great  purposes  of  his  life,  what  he  set  before 
himself  to  accomplish  when  he  entered  upon  liis  medical  career. 

The  first  was  the  unification  of  the  medical  profession  by 
the  creation  of  an  American  Medical  Association. 

The  second  was  the  founding  of  a  medical  college  with  ex- 
tended courses  of  study,  and  a  more  rational  method  of  teach- 
ing. 

The  third  was  the  publishing  of  a  text-book  which  should 
embody  his  views  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine.  The 
moon  was  on  the  wane  when  the  story  was  complete.  He  never 
forgot  his  purpose,  but  lived  to  see  his  work  fulfilled,  and  the 
writer  recalls  the  happy  midnight  hour  when  both  of  us  should 
have  been  in  bed.  J.  H.  Hollister. 

Dr.  John  Bartlett,  the  septuagenarian  practitioner  of  Chicago,  was  for 
forty-five  years  an  admirer  of  the  high  qualities  and  abilities  of  Dr.  Davis. 
Dr.  Bartlett  did  not  speak  at  the  banquet  referred  to,  but  the  following 


l66  TRIBUTES    OF    RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS   AND    FOR>,IER    PUPILS 

tribute  addressed  to  Dr.  Davis  by  him  on  the  day  after  the  banquet  has  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  author ;  and  it  is  here  printed.  The  appropriateness 
of  the  letter  in  this  connection  will  be  at  once  recognized. 

Chicago,  April  13th,  ic)02. 
To  Dr.  Xathan  S.  Davis: 

Dear  Sir: 

On  Friday  last  my  sister-in-law, 
who  seems  to  have  acquired  a  proper  appreciation  of  yourself, 
chanced  to  call  at  my  office.  I  told  her  of  the  "'Davis  Banquet"* 
and  that  while  heartily  approving  of  the  homage  to  be  paid  you 
by  the  occasion  I  hardly  expected  to  attend.  ]\ieanwhile,  I  related 
some  '"reminiscentia"  of  my  own,  showing  your  energy,  your 
constant  attention  to  business  and  the  endless  demands  on  your 
time. 

Early  the  next  morning  my  relative  sent  me  an  urgent  re- 
quest to  attend  the  banquet.  "Go,"  she  said,  "and  voice  your  ap- 
preciation of  the  occasion  and  of  the  man  whose  virtues,  abilities 
and  singular  pertinacity  of  purpose  had  invited  this  tribute." 

By  Avay  evidently  of  givmg  me  an  impetus  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, she  scribbled  down  these  memoranda  which  strike  me  as 
worth  transmitting  to  you  even  at  this  late  hour:  "Yes."'  she 
urged,  "go  to  the  banquet  and  speak  words  fitting  the  opportunity. 
Congratulate  him  on  things  personal,  on  his  industrious  use  of 
time — no  waste  of  it  or  of  energy  on  minor  things — on  his  direct 
advance  toward  his  ends,  in  a  manner  typified  in  his  practice 
of  hurrying  to  those  in  distress,  often  at  night  as  well  as  day, 
along  the  sidewalk,  in  a  dog  trot. 

"As  an  illustration  of  his  'busy  days'  tell  how  he  intrusted  to 
your  care  a  patient,  while  he  answered  a  call,  requiring  his  absence 
from  the  city  a  day  or  two ;  how,  on  account  of  the  increasing 
urgency  of  the  case,  you  advised  a  relative  to  meet  Dr.  Davis  at 
the  incoming  train  and  urge  him  to  proceed  directly  to  his 
patient.  State  how  the  messenger  returned  sorely  disappointed, 
in  that  seven  other  messengers  were  at  the  depot  to  urge  the 
doctor  in  this  and  that  direction. 

"Xarrate  how  upon  one  occasion  when  asked  by  a  medical 
man  who  had  long  waited  for  an  interview,  if  he  had  ten  min- 
utes to  spare,  the  doctor,  overwhelmed  with  work  as  he  was, 
replied  a  little  testily,  perhaps,  'I  have  not  had  ten  minutes  to 
spare  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  I  do  not  expect  to  have  in  the 
ten  next  to  come !' 


*Vide,  chapter  XIII. 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER   PUPILS  1 67 

"Do  not  forget  to  laud  his  life-long  devotion  to  his  ideals  of 
Temperance.  Point  out,  how  many  younger  and  less  experienced 
practitioners  his  voice  and  example  must  have  aroused  to  the 
responsibilities  involved  in  the  thoughtless  prescription  of  stimu- 
lants. Assure  him  that  his  tireless  labors  in  the  good  cause  were 
never  so  certain  of  their  reward  as  to-day. 

"Congratulate  him  that  although  it  took  him  the  great  part 
of  a  century  to  find  the  time,  he  had  at  last  upon  this  evening 
found  that  'ten  minutes  of  leisure'  to  receive  the  congratulations 
of  his  confreres  in  medicine.  Nature  takes  a  rest  after  the  heat 
and  stress  of  the  growing  season  is  over.  Then  comes  the  In- 
dian summer  of  the  year;  to  the  aged  doctor  the  Indian  sum- 
mer of  life— a  time  to  count  the  value  of  the  harvest  gathered 

in." 

In  presenting  the  promptings  of  my  relative  I  take  occasion 
to  express  my  full  endorsement  of  the  handsome  eulogiums  passed 
upon  you  last  evening  by  your  admiring  colleagues. 

Your  admirable  speech  of  acceptance,  like  your  life,  proved  a 
lesson  to  every  physician  present.  Your  earnest  suggestion  that 
feelings  of  enmity  toward  any  mortal  should  be  habitually  in- 
hibited, coupled  with  the  expression  as  to  your  positive  good 
will  toward  every  human  being,  will  tend  much  to  freshen  the 
atmosphere  of  these  days,  tainted  by  man's  malevolence  and 
selfish  strife.  To  thousands  of  appreciative  friends,  who  hope 
for  the  realization  of  the  cherished  future  of  the  Christians,  your 
reference  to  your  work  as  completed,  and  to  your  house  as  in 
readiness  for  the  final  call,  tinged  with  sadness  though  it  be,  will 
afiford  a  joyful  satisfaction.  Wishing  you  all  happiness  pertinent 
to  the  perfect  fruition  of  your  Hfe,  I  am. 

Your  friend,  Dr.  John  Bartlett. 

From  Roswell  Park,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  professor  of  surgery  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Buffalo,  a  former  pupil  and  interne  of  Dr.  Davis: 

My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  began  when,  as  a 
freshman  student,  in  1873,  I  first  attended  one  of  his  clinics.  The 
impression  then  made  and  subsequently  confirmed  was  that  he 
was  a  "gentleman  of  the  old  school."  (He  always  wore  a 
swallow-tail  coat.)  He  struck  me  by  his  dignified  bearing  and 
the  kindly  yet  austere  manner  in  which  he  dealt  with  his  patients 
and  those  about  him.  He  seemed  always  grave,  apparently  taking 
the  serious  view  of  life,  such  sense  of  humor  as  he  may  really 


l68  TRIBUTES    OF   RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS   AND   F0R:,IER    PUPILS 

have  had  being  concealed  Beneath  the  severity  of  his  demeanor. 

During  the  following  years,  as  I  came  to  know  him  better, 
both  as  one  of  his  inicnics  and  later  as  a  member  of  the  college 
faculty,  these  impressions  were  in  the  main  strengthened.  No 
matter  how  friendly  he  became  he  never  forgot  that  cjuiet  dignity 
Avhich  to  many  seemed  actual  coldness  or  indifference,  but  which 
we  who  knew  him,  knew  to  be  a  species  of  self-repression  behind 
which  he  constantly  veiled  himself.  Whether  it  was  the  out- 
come of  years  of  contact  with  irritating  patients,  or  whether  it 
Avas  a  natural  characteristic,  we  never  quite  learned. 

When,  as  an  interne,  I  came  into  close  contact  with  him,  I 
more  fully  appreciated  his  keen  insight  into  morbid  processes, 
and  his  comprehensive  knowledge  of  internal  diseases,  as  then 
understood  and  taught. 

A  scholastic  lecture  by  him  was  a  marvel  of  compact  presen- 
tation of  its  subject  matter.  There  were  no  attempts  at  oratory 
or  facetiousness,  nor  any  of  the  useless  verbiage  wnth  which 
mauA-  teachers  obscure  rather  than  clarify  their  teachings.  Direct, 
analytical  and  logical  was  his  diction,  and  the  most  stupid  could 
not  fail  but  follow  it.  Quite'  similar  was  his  presentation  of  a 
case  in  clinic.  No  one  could  leave  the  room  or  ward  after  hear- 
ing one  of  his  clinical  lectures  wnthout  taking  much  that  was 
worth  remembering,  that  had  been  so  driven  home  that  it  could 
scarcely  be  lost. 

Considering  that  those  days  when  I  knew  him  best  were  be- 
fore we  had  the  aid  of  bacteriology  and  of  laboratory  aids  to 
diagnosis,  it  seems  to  me  that  his  skill  and  intLiition  in  this  direc- 
tion constituted  a  rare  gift.  Naturally  throughout  his  teaching 
his  personality  in  manner  and  thought  was  never  lost.  His  op- 
position to  alcohol,  for  example,  tinctured  all  his  therapeutics, 
and  his  ingenuity  in  finding  substitutes  for  it  used  to  surprise 
us. 

To  judge  a  man  correctly  some  thirty  years  after  close  rela- 
tions have  ceased  is  not  an  easy  matter.  Yet  my  estimate  of  Dr. 
Davis,  as  a  man,  is  that  he  was  ever  the  fearless  champion  of 
what  he  thought  elevating  or  right,  either  in  professional  or  civil 
life.  His  standards  were  rigorous  and  sometimes  extreme,  but 
no  one  could  for  a  moment  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  purpose  nor 
the  energy  with  which  he  would  pursue  it.  As  a  teacher  none 
could  excel  him  in  vivid  portrayal  or  terseness  of  presentation. 
AVhatever  he  may  have  lacked  in  elegance  of  speech  or  grace  of 


TRIBUTES   OF    RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER    PUPILS  169 

oratory  he  more  than  atoned  for  by  usin_ir  a  forceful,  inteUijrible 
EngHsh,  without  affectations  of  any  kind.  I'o  his  students  he 
was  always  kindly,  even  though  the  interviews  were  not  pro- 
longed. Everyone  derived  inspiration  from  contact  with  him, 
and  his  influence  upon  his  own  and  the  succeeding  generation 
was  most  widespread  and  beneficial. 

In  the  medical  life  of  his  day  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  zuas  a  giant. 

RoswELL  Park. 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  the  oration  on  the  "Life  and  Char- 
acter" of  Dr.  Davis,  delivered  before  the  American  Medical  Association  at  its 
meeting  in  Portland,  Oregon,  in  1905,  by  Henry  O.  Marcy,  A.  'M.,  M.  D., 
J^L.  D.,  of  Boston. 

Dr.  Marcy  was  for  many  long  years  the  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Davis, 
and  his  tribute  has  an  added  and  more  sacred  value  on  that  account. 

The  real  secret  of  his  wonderful  power  and  influence  is  found 
in  its  last  analysis,  in  the  one  word  service,  indefatigable  energy, 
consecrated  to  the  good  of  his  fellow  man.  Without  any  preten- 
sions to  genius,  with  nothing  dramatic  or  spectacular  in  his 
character  or  career,  his  lamp  burned  with  a  pure  and  steady  flame, 
always  lighting  before  him  the  path  of  duty  made  honorable. 

He  lived  constantly  under  the  solemn  sense  of  the  high  re- 
sponsibility of  life,  and  surrendered  himself  to  its  demands  with 
utter  and  complete  self-abnegation,  in  the  single  desire  to  make 
right  the  duty  of  the  hour. 

We  have  sketched  the  early  life  work  of  Dr.  Davis,  that  we 
might  the  better  observe  the  formative  powers  of  his  nature, 
molded  and  strengthened  by  the  years.  A  man  of  affairs  and  of 
the  world,  the  rare  boon  seemed  bestowed  upon  him  to  go  through 
life  unsullied  by  them. 

He  was  not  alone  broad-cultured,  high-minded,  but  a  spiritual- 
ly-guided man.  He  lived  and  thought  upon  a  higher  level  than 
is  given  to  most  men.  So  modest  and  unpretentious  was  he,  that 
he  seemed  to  wear  his  public  honors  as  a  badge  of  service,  rather 
than  of  distinction.  He  often  appeared  to  me  to  dwell  in  an 
atmosphere  of  his  own,  quite  above  the  mists  and  vapors  of 
earth.  Other  men's  ideals  were  his  verities,  in  the  daily  assur- 
ance of  his  walk  and  conversation. 

The  spirituality  of  his  early  Christian  teaching  permeated  his 
whole  life  as  a  subtle  essence,  and  his  conduct  was  the  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  spiritual  grace.  The  world  is  richer 
by  the  heritage  of  such  a  memory. 


170  TRIBUTES    OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS    AND    FORMER   PUPILS 

To  Dr,  Davis  is  due  the  organization  of  the  medical  editors 
of  America.  I  well  remember  his  earnest  enthusiasm,  founded 
upon  the  belief  that  out  of  it  the  medical  journalism  of  America 
would  rise  to  a  higher  plane.  He  was  its  first  President  and  I 
had  the  honor  for  some  years  of  being  the  Secretary  of  the  or- 
ganization. Every  medical  editor  of  America  recognizes  the 
value  of  this  service  and  the  Association  has  deepened  in  inter- 
est and  strengthened  in  power  with  each  of  the  succeeding  years. 

Few  men  of  any  profession  have  recognized  more  fully  the 
evils  of  intemperance  and  strenuously  attempted  their  eradica- 
tion than  Dr.  Davis.  To  him  it  made  little  difference  that  the 
effort  was  unpopular  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  medical  men. 
He  sought  not  to  correct  the  evil  influence  by  specially  dwelling 
upon  the  crimes  of  intoxication,  but  rather  by  teaching  that  the 
basic  wrong  was  the  injurious  effect  of  alcohol  upon  the  in- 
dividual. He  sought  to  convince  men  by  first  teaching  them  the 
role  of  alcohol  when  taken  in  any  form  into  the  organism.  This 
organized  effort  for  instruction,  known  as  the  National  Temper- 
ance Association,  has  wielded  a  power  and  is  exercising  an  in- 
fluence of  immeasurable  good,  throughout  the  civilized  world.  I 
am  by  no  means  sure  but  that  Dr.  Davis  considered  this  the 
highest  fruitage  of  his  entire  life.  His  last  scientific  contribu- 
tion, and  certainly  one  of  his  best,  was  to  this  organization,  read 
at  the  last  annual  meeting,  at  the  time  when  Dr.  Davis  lay  upon 
his  bed  of  death. 

From  the  editorial  notice  in  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  July  25,  IQ04,  upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Davis 
we  quote : 

"Dr.  Davis  worked  long  and  earnestly  for  high  ideals  in  medi- 
cine, and  for  the  betterment  of  his  profession  in  every  way. 
He  represented  before  the  people  the  best  and  purest  in  that 
profession,  and  he  always  advocated  that  which  he  believed  to 
be  for  the  welfare  of  his  confreres  and  for  the  good  of  the  peo- 
ple. However,  it  was  as  a  medical  teacher  that  Dr.  Davis  was 
best  known,  and  thousands  of  men  now  in  practice  reverence  his 
name  because  of  the  influence  he  exerted  on  them  during  their 
student  days.  No  other  man  influenced  the  medical  profession 
as  Dr.  Davis  influenced  it.  He  did  not  belong  to  Chicago  alone, 
but  to  the  whole  country.  Here,  where  he  lived,  his  influence 
was  felt  to  a  greater  degree  possibly  than  elsewhere,  but  his  was 
the  kind  of  influence  which  reached  out  and  permeated  the  pro- 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER   PUPILS  I /I 

fession  of  the  whole  country,  if  not  of  the  world ;  and  when  the 
true  history  of  medicine  in  America  is  written,  his  name  will 
appear  more  prominently  than  that  of  any  other  man." 

.  These  characteristics  were  recognized  even  by  those  who  op- 
posed him.  So  he  was  believed  in  and  was  trusted ;  hence  he 
was  a  power.  Dr.  Davis  was  a  man  of  whom  it  might  be  said, 
"he  loved  his  fellow-men,"  but  he  loved  his  profession  best. 
He  lived  a  life  of  purest  simplicity.  He  was  a  typical  repre- 
sentative of  the  old-school  family  physician :  he  had  the  con- 
fidence of  his  patients,  was  loved,  honored  and  respected  by  them, 
and  withal  was  a  welcome  friend  and  counselor  in  every  family 
in  which  he  was  known.     His  was  a  character  to  be  emulated. 

Would  that  there  were  more  men  in  our  profession  like  hira. 
Wearing  the  crown  of  earthly  honor  as  a  simple  exponent  of 
service,  interested  in  the  present,  as  in  early  manhood,  seeing 
the  victories  3^et  to  be  won  in  the  field  of  science,  as  the  vista 
of  the  future  opened  before  him,  in  the  full  ripeness  of  the  many 
years,  the  eternity  of  the  present,  blended  harmoniously  with 
the  eternity  of  the  future,  as  he  calmly  awaited  its  dawn. 

Firm  in  the  assured  hope  with  which  the  great  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles  was.  persuaded  that  '"neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature, 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,"  thus  was  the  spirit  freed  from  the 
broken  body,  and  June  i6,  1904,  we  mourned  Nathan  S.  Davis  as 
numbered  with  the  dead. 

The  subject  of  personal  relationship  is  almost  too  tender  for 
public  expression.  Thirty  years  acquaintanceship  had  ripened 
into  a  friendship  sweeter  to  me  by  far  than  to  him,  because  of 
the  .personal  profit  of  the  relationship.  If  anything  lasts  over 
into  the  great  beyond,  it  will  be  such  ties  of  congenial  loving 
friendship,  which  without  a  ripple  ripened  and  strengthened  to 
the  last.  > 

Let  the  tender  associations  of  the  home  life  be  held  sacred. 
Let  the  city  of  his  choice  which  had  grown  under  his  fostering 
charge,  from  a  struggling  village  to  the  second  city  of  the  con- 
tinent, enshrine  his  memory  in  their  hearts  and  perpetuate  his 
form  in  imperishable  bronze,  looking  out  upon  the  great  lake 
whose  pure  waters  he  gave  to  the  public  need.  But  above  all 
let  the  American  Medical  Association  hold  unsullied  the  example 


172        ■       TRIBUTES   OF    RESPECT    FROM    FRIEXDS   AXD    FORMER    PUPILS 

of  his  high  and  noble  career,  and  perpetuate  his  memory  during 
the  centuries  to  come,  by  imitating  his  glorious  example  of  a 
long  life  given  to  public  service. 

From  Dr.  Frank  Billings,  who  needs  no  introduction  to  our  reader*: 

It  was  my  fortune  to  sit  on  the  benches  as  a  student  in  the 
Chicago  ]\Iedical  College  and  receive  instruction  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  medicine  from  Prof.  X.  S.  Davis.  Later  I  was 
also  fortunate  enough  to  be  associated  with  him  on  the  facu'ty 
of  the  same  institution  for  a  period  of  over  sixteen  }ears.  Dr. 
Davis  was  uniformly  considerate  and  kind  to  medical  students 
and  to  medical  graduates.  I  and  others  went  freely  to  him  for 
advice  on  many  occasions  and  was  always  received  and  treated 
as  a  father  would  advise  a  son.  Dr.  Davis  by  word  and  example 
taught  all  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  to  do  honest, 
good  and  thorough  work.  He  fried  to  bring  out  the  best  that 
was  in  a  man. 

As  a  teacher  of  clinical  medicine  he  had  no  peer.  His  word 
pictures  of  disease  made  one  actually  see  the  patient  suffering 
before  his  eyes.  His  methods  of  diagnosis  were  not  always  sys- 
tematic and  classic,  but  they  were  rational  always  and  always 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  make  a  diagnosis.  His  prognostic 
powers  were  co-equal  with  his  skill  of  description  and  diagnosis. 

I  have  never  heard,  in  an}'  country,  another  man  who  could 
as  clearlv  describe  a  disease  and  demonstrate  the  condition  in  the 
patient  before  him,  as  Dr.  Davis.  Frank  Billixgs. 

From  Dr.  Frank  S.  Johnson,  a  former  pupil,  and  afterwards  a  colleague 
of  Dr.  Davis  in  Northwestern  University  Medical  School : 

Dr.  Davis  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  force  and  a  man  of 
high  character.  He  added  strength  to  any  position  he  occupied. 
As  a  teacher  such  a  man  has  unusual  influence,  his  normally 
superior  position  relatively  to  his  students,  attains  still  greater 
eminence  with  his  occupancy. 

In  person  he  was  a  thin,  spare  man,  with  a  full,  large  forehead, 
dark,  somewhat  bushy  hair,  keen  eyes,  a  firm  mouth,  and  even 
in  repose  his  face  wore  an  expression  of  alertness  and  determi- 
nation. His  chief -characteristic  was  energy,  and  behind  it  was 
an  orderlv  mind.  His  mental  operations  were  prompt  and  posi- 
tive.    In  the  classroom,  and  at  the  bedside  clinic  his  quick  ob- 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER    PUPILS  1 73 

servation  and  fine  discrimination  were  in  themselves  a  splendid 
lesson,  a  revelation  of  attainment  in  method  and  in  practice.  His 
descriptions  of  disease  were  vivid,  and  his  plans  of  methodically 
managing  its  varying  phases  were  characteristic  of  a  mind  that 
as  far  as  possible  pursued  all  problems  to  a  positive  conclusion. 
His  personal  relations  with  his  students  were  very  pleasant.  He 
encouraged  every  earnest  worker  by  kindly  help  and  wise  advice 
— but  to  the  willful  wrongdoer  he  meted  out  a  full  measure  of  his 
indignation. 

As  a  teacher  of  young  men  his  efforts  passed  beyond  the 
bounds  of  medicine.  He  thoroughly  believed  that  a  physician 
should  represent  the  highest  type  of  manhood  and  at  every  oppor- 
tunity he  endeavored  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  his  students  high 
appreciations  of  life  and  of  duty,  and  to  fire  them  with  an  enthu- 
siasm that  would  fully  develop  each  one's  latent  powers. 

Frank  Johnson. 


From  Prof.  William  E.  Quine,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  a  former  colleague  of 
Dr.  Davis  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College : 

Dr.  Davis  was  the  greatest  physician  and  teacher  of  medi- 
cine I  have  ever  known.  He  was  great  as  a  diagnostician,  great 
as  a  therapist,  great  as  to  benevolence  of  nature,  great  as  to  dig- 
nity of  ideals,  great  in  respect  to  fidelity  to  duty,  great  as  to 
capacity  for  public  utterance,  and  great  as  an  explainer  of  the 
complexities  of  science. 

In  no  unimportant  measure  his  greatness  was  owing  to  sin- 
cerity and  purity  of  purpose,  to  capacity  for  initiative  and  to  a 
powerful,  dominant,  convincing  and  compelling  personality. 

As  a  medical  teacher  his  value  to  the  medical  profession  and 
to  society  depended  more  upon  the  power  of  his  character  and 
his  example,  than  upon  his  capacity  to  expound  the  facts  and 
theories  of  medical  science. 

His  pupils  have  had  to  unlearn  and  forget  many  of  the  lessons 
of  the  class-room ;  but  the  influence  of  his  nature  upon  theirs  will 
live  and  bear  fruit  as  long  as  they  live,  and,  in  many  instances,  be 
transmitted  by  them  to  oncoming  medical  classes — and  througli 
these  to  generations  yet  unborn. 

He  was  a  great  exemplar.  That  he  could  be  a  violent  partisan 
and,  on  occasions,  even  intolerant  and  rancorous,  will  not  be 
denied  by  any  who  have  been  in  close  relations  with  him ;  but  his 


174  TRIBUTES    OF    RESPECT    FROM    FRIENDS    AND   FORMER    PUPILS 

heart  was  soft,  his  sincerity  splendid,  and  his  courage  equal  to 
any  demand  upon  it. 

He  was  slavishly  good  to  the  poor — good  to  the  point  o£  self- 
immolation  to  God's  poor  and  to  the  devil's — with  impartial  favor ; 
and  the  poor  were  his  most  valued  friends  and  his  most  loving 
mourners. 

Dr.  Davis  has  done  more  good  and  less  harm  than  any  physi- 
cian I  have  ever  known.  Wm.  E.  Quine. 

In  the  following  words,  Prof.  John  Henr}-  Wigmore,  A.  ^I.,  LL.  B., 
Dean  of  the  Northwestern  University  Law  School,  refers  to  Dr.  Davis : 

"On  June  i6th,  1904,  the  morning  of  commencement,  Dr.  Na- 
than Smith  Davis,  Sr.,  formerly  lecturer  in  the  Law  School  on 
Medical  Jurisprudence,  died  at  his  home  in  Huron  street,  Chicago. 
He  was  eighty-eight  years  old.  For  thirty  years,  with  but  slight 
interruptions,  he  lectured  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  school, 
beginning  about  1866  (when  it  was  the  LTiion  College  of  Law), 
and  delivered  the  course  for  the  last  time  in  1895,  when  the  School 
quarters  were  in  the  ]\Iasonic  Temple.  His  frankness  and  firm- 
ness of  character,  his  moral  earnestness  and  h.is  breadth  of  view, 
gave  his  lectures  an  individuality  and  interest  far  greater  than 
such  a  course  usually  can  possess.  The  course,  indeed,  existed  for 
Dr.  Davis  and  ivas  Dr.  Davis,  and  those  who  had  the  privilege  of 
attending  it  gained  the  inspiration  of  the  man,  the  scholar,  and 
the  reformer.  Dr.  Davis'  relations  of  service  to  the  University,  to 
his  profession  and  to  Chicago  and  the  West,  were  important  and 
inanifold.  He  was  a  leader  and  a  tireless  laborer  in  every  good 
work  relating  to  his  profession.  His  last  appearance  before  the 
School  was  on  May  23,  1902,  at  the  farewell  reception,  at  the 
University  Club,  given  by  the  students  of  the  School  to  Dr. 
Harvey  B.  Hurd,  on  the  occasion  of  his  retirement  from  active 
work  in  the  School.  Dr.  Davis  was  especially  invited,  as  Dr. 
Hurd's  oldest  colleague,  to  be  present  and  recount  something  of 
his  recollections  of  old  times."  His  special  theme  was  his  recol- 
lections of  Senator  Douglas,  who  was  his  personal  friend,  and 
whom  he  attended  in  his  last  illness. 

A  brief  extract  from  Dr.  Davis'  "Recollections  of  Old  Times," 
will  show  his  estimate  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  whom  he  was  a 
great  admirer :  "I\Ir.  Douglas  had  remarkable  power,  as  a  speaker, 
to  control  men's  opinions,  if  they  listened  to  him.     There  was 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT   FROM    FRIENDS   AND   FORMER   PUPILS  1 75 

■something-  so  magnetic  about  him  that  when  he  could  gain  the 
attention  of  a  popular  audience,  he  was  very  sure  to  bring  thcni 
to  agree  with  his  own  views.  The  secret  of  it  was  that  he  had 
planted  himself  from  the  beginning  of  his  career  upon  the  great 
fundamental  principle  of  free  government.  It  was  absolute  home- 
rule  that  he  advocated,  and  when  they  listened  to  him  he  car- 
ried the  populace  with  him,  in  spite  of  all  reverses.  He  believed 
in  a  free  government,  a  free  people,  free  institutions,  free  trade, 
and  the  right  of  every  man  or  nation  to  decide  and  act  for  him- 
self or  themselves,  with  the  utmost  freedom."  And  this  was  the 
political  platform  of  Dr.  Davis. 

From  Otto  Raymond  Barnett,  Esq.,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Chicago 
Bar,  and  a  former  pupil  of  Dr.  Davis,  in  the  Northwestern  University 
School  of  Law : 

"Nathan  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  a  teacher  of  profound  learning  com- 
bined with  great  simplicity  of  manner,  gentle,  kindly,  equally  free 
from  scholastic  phraseology,  oratorical  pose  or  dogmatic  asser- 
tion, his  delivery  was  deliberate,  his  exposition  of  a  subject  in 
non-technical  terms  was  illuminating  and  his  knowledge  of  that 
whereof  he  spoke  v/as  complete.  His  convictions  as  to  matters 
of  right  and  wrong  were  stated  in  no  uncertain  terms.  His  ha- 
tred of  wrong  was  ever  intense  and  outspoken.  In  his  later  days 
his  ever  welcome,  strong,  kind,  quiet  face,  white  hair  and  slightly 
stooped  figure  seemed  that  of  the  typical  old-time  family  doctor, 
the  counsellor  and  friend  as  well  as  the  physician. 

"As  one  who  had  been  close  to  humanity's  weaknesses,  temp- 
tations and  struggles,  he  taught  the  young  not  only  from  his 
knowledge  of  medical  s'cience  but  continually  through  it  all  he 
taught  kindness,  gentleness,  manhood,  good  citizenship  and  the 
higher  ideals  of  everyday  living,  as  one  who  having  travelled  far 
through  life  felt  it  to  be  his  duty,  as  it  was  undoubtedly  his 
pleasure,  to  inspire  those  who  followed  to  live  up  to  the  best  that 
was  in  them.  Such  was  Nathan  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  the  teacher  whom 
-we  hold  in  tender,  reverent  memory.  Otto  R.  Barnett.'' 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Personal  and  Reminiscent. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  fact  that  Dr.  Davis,  in  his  callow  days,. 
was  somewhat  o:iven  to  politics,  and  that  he  "stumped"  Broome  County, 
New  York — where  he  then  resided — in  the  interests  of  Martin  Van  Buren 
for  the  Presidenc}^  in  the  campaign  of  1839-40.  But  the  ''land-slide"  from 
Jackson  and  Van  Buren  to  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  and  the  consequent  col- 
lapse of  the  old  "National  Democratic  Party"  seems  to  have  cooled  his 
political  ardor,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  "stump"  political  efforts.  He  was 
a  Democrat  all  his  life,  but  he  never  obtruded  his  political  opinions,  or  took 
any  active  or  public  part  in  political  campaigns.  On  more  than  one  occa- 
sion, after  he  came  to  Chicago,  he  was  urged  to  "run"  for  Congress,  but 
declined,  and  we  well  remember  that  his  name  was  prominently  and  se- 
riously considered  as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  Governor  of  Illinois,. 
but  he  gave  no  encouragement  to  the  proposition. 

On  the  1 8th  of  April,  1861,  we  find  him  on  the  platform  in  Bryan 
Hall,  with  Brainard,  Boone  and  other  medical  men,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
rnass  meeting,  or  "war  meeting,"  as  such  gatherings  were  called,  for  the 
purpose  of  arousing  the  enthusiasm  and  stirring  the  patriotism  of  the  peo- 
ple in  support  of  the  government  in  its  efforts  to  "put  down  the  rebellion," 
as  we  used  to  express  it  in  those  strenuous  days.  None  of  the  physicians 
present  seem  to  have  been  called  upon  for  any  patriotic  eloquence. 

After  the  fire  of  1871,  the  physicians  of  the  country  contributed  a  fund 
for  the  relief  of  Chicago  physicians  who  were  burnt  out,  and  needed  finan- 
cial aid.  Dr.  Davis  was  treasurer  of  the  fund,  which  amounted  to  $10,- 
^81.08.  In  his  final  report,  the  treasurer  shows  where  and  how  he  dis- 
bursed $10,781.00  only,  and  we  try  to  imagine  what  sort  of  extravagance 
he  was  tempted  to  indulge  in  by  the  possession  of  that  elusive  eight  cents. 

There  was  also  a  Special  Relief  Committee  for  the  help  of  burned 
out  church  members,  and  Dr.  Davis  represented  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  on  that  committee. 

On  Thursday,  Jany.  20,  1887,  being  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Davis'  entrance  to  the  medical  profession,  the  students  of  the  Chicago- 
Medical  College  presented  him  with  a  "magnificent  arm  chair,  and  a  val- 
uable and  beautiful  revolving  set  of  reference  shelves."* 


*Jour.  A.  M.  A.,  Jan'y  29,  i^ 


PERSONAL   AND   KEMINISCENT  1/7 

Dr.  Davis  visited  England  twice,  but  did  not  extend  his  travels  to  the 
continent. 

His  first  trip  was  in  1886,  after  his  selection  as  the  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  approaching  International  Medical  Congress,  in  1887. 
He  went  as  one  of  the  delegates  from  the  American  Medical  Association, 
who  were  authorized  to  invite  the  members  of  the  British  Medical  Asso- 
ciation to  attend  the  Congress,  and  as  Dr.  Davis  was  prospective  President 
of  the  Congress,  his  appointment  as  delegate  to  the  British  Association  was 
peculiarly  appropriate.  The  British  Medical  Association  met  at  Brighton. 
August  1 2th,  1886,  and  our  delegates  v^^ere  treated  with  great  courtesy 
and  kindness  by  their  trans-Atlantic  brethren.  On  the  third  day  of  the 
session,  they  were  given  a  public  reception,  and  an  opportunity  to  state 
the  object  of  their  mission.  Dr.  Davis  was  selected  as  the  spokesman, 
and  he  delivered  an  address  which  did  credit  to  himself  and  his  country, 
and  which  was  received  with  unusual  enthusiasm  by  our  sober  English 
confreres.  The  invitation  was  accepted  on  the  spot,  and  a  large  delegation 
of  the  most  eminent  medical  men  in  the  United  Kingdom  attended  the 
International  Medical  Congress  at  Washington  in  1887. 

On  the  morning  of  Friday,  Aug.  13,  1886,  at  the  "Royal  Pavilion," 
Brighton,  the  "National  Temperance  League"  gave  a  breakfast  at  which 
Dr.  Davis  was  a  guest  of  honor.  Mr.  John  Taylor — whoever  he  may  have 
been— one  of  those  who  "supported"  Mr.  Marriage  Wallis,  J.  P.  (just 
why  Mr.  Marriage  Wallis,  J.  P.,  needed  to  be  "supported"  at  a  temperance 
breakfast  we  are  not  informed),  "regretted  the  absence  of  the  Lord  Bishop 
of  London.  It  was  quite  his  Lordship's  intention  to  have  presided  over 
the  meeting,  but  the  early  breaking  up  of  Parliament  had  altered  all  his 
arrangements."  And  then  in  concluding  one  of  those  speeches  in  the 
delivery  of  which  a  courteous  Englishman  is  the  peer  of  all  the  world, 
Mr.  John  Taylor  said,  "they  had  amongst  them  a  distinguished  American, 
Dr.  Davis  (loud  cheers),  and  he  begged  to  move  the  following  resolution:" 
"  'That  this  company  of  members  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  as- 
sembled at  the  Royal  Pavilion,  Brighton,  on  the  invitation  of  the  National 
Temperance  League,  welcomes  the  presence  of  Dr.  Nathan  S.  Davis 
and  his  companion  delegates  from  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
congratulates  Professor  Davis  on  his  ardent  and  consistent  practice  of 
total  abstinence  for  over  half  a  century,  and  trusts  he  may  long  be  spared 
in  his  intelligent  and  earnest  advocacy  of  the  sacred  cause  of  Temperance" 
(loud  applause).*  Dr.  Norman  Kerr  seconded  the  resolution  "in  felici- 
•  tous  terms,"  and  it  was  carried  by  acclamation.  Then  the  guest  of  honor 
took  the  floor,  and  then  he  "took"  the  audience.     For  more  than  half  an 


^Sussex  (England)  Daily  Nezvs,  Aug.  14,  1886. 


178  PERSONAL  AND  REMINISCENT 

hour  he  spoke  with  his  accustomed  fluency  and  power,  and  King  Alcohol 
never  got  a  more  vigorous  scoring  than  was  administered  then  and  there. 
It  was  a  great  event  in  the  life  of  a  great  man;  a  man  who  was  great 
enough  for  the  occasion.  It  was  an  hour  in  which  every  American  medical 
man  ought  to  feel  a  personal  pride.  "The  conclusion  of  Dr.  Davis'  address 
was  the  signal  for  long-continued  applause."* 

The  address  was  punctuated  by  frequent  outbursts  of  applause,  and 
the  speaker  evidently  had  what  the  older  Methodist  preachers  used  to  call 
"a.  good  time." 

After  attending  the  British  Medical  Association  to  its  close  and  after 
also  attending  several  of  the  social  gatherings,  which  always  enliven  the 
meetings  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  as  well  as  our  own,  Dr. 
Davis  visited  London,  and  was  the  guest  of  the  late  Sir  Benjamin  Ward 
Richardson,  who  was  one  of  the  medical  "lions"  of  London,  and  who  richly 
deserved  to  occupy  the  high  eminence  he  attained.  These  two  men,  so  like 
and  so  unlike,  would  find  many  topics  upon  which  they  would  meet  on  a 
common  and  very  familiar  ground,  and  it  need  not  be  doubted  that  it  was- 
a  season  of  unalloyed  enjoyment  to  them  both. 

After  a  few  days  in  London  he  went  to  Cambridge,  and  visited  the 
ancient  University,  whereof  England  is  so  justly  proud.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  Dr.  W.  H.  Pancoast,  of  Philadelphia,  and  they  were  entertained 
by  some  of  the  distinguished  medical  men  of  Cambridge,  in  an  informal  but 
very  cordial  manner. 

He  arrived  at  home  after  about  six  weeks'  absence,  greatly  benefited 
by  the  rest  and  novelty,  and  this  was  the  longest  vacation  that  he  had  ever 
taken. 

Man}^  of  us  Americans,  when  we  get  over  to  Europe,  find  very  great 
difficulty  in  procuring  drinking  water  that  agrees  w^ith  our  delicate  ''prima? 
viae,"  and  we  find  ourselves  forced  to  resort  to  wine  or  some  other  beverage 
of  like  nature,  which  we  rigidly  eschew  and  perhaps  vociferously  denounce 
at  home.  But  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  assert  that  Dr.  Davis  experienced  no 
difficulty  in  finding  his  favorite  beverage,  "aqua  pura,"  and  that  he  came 
home  as  innocent  of  the  taste  of  wine  as  when  he  started. 

In  1888  he  was  again  abroad,  and  in  attendance  upon  the  British  Medi- 
cal Association  at  its  meeting  in  Glasgow,  largest,  finest  and  thriftiest  of 
the  Scottish  cities.  This  time,  although  he  went  as  pl^in  "Dr.  Davis,"  he 
was  the  recipient  of  much  attention,  and  many  individual  acts  of  kindness 
and  courtesy  from  the  English  and  Scotch  medical  fraternity. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  British  Medical  Association  at  Glas- 
gow, he  went  to  Edinburgh  by  way  of  the  "Trossachs"  and  Stirling  Castle^. 


PERSONAL   AND   REMINISCENT  I/O 

and  it  wotilcl  be  interesting^  if  we  coukl  know  how  deeply  the  emotions  of 
this  severely  practical  man  were  stirred,  as  he  made  this  romantic  jour- 
ney, where  history  and  tragedy  and  romance  and  i^oetry,  jostle  each  other 
at  every  turn. 

After  a  brief  visit  to  Edinburgh,  wiiich  was  made  {)leasant  and  profit- 
able by  the  medical  men  of  that  beautiful  and  picturesque  old  city,  so  famous 
in  history,  theology,  law,  literature  and  medicine,  he  returned  home,  and 
never  saw  Europe  again. 

In  January,  1886,  at  a  time  when  he  was  burdened  with  the  duties 
incident  to  his  official  position  in  the  approaching  International  Medical 
Congress,  and  while  he  was  at  the  same  time  editing  the  Journal  of 
the  American  Mcdica!  Association,  attending  to  his  enormous  office  prac- 
tice, and  to  his  duties  in  Mercy  Hospital  and  the  Chicago  Medical  College, 
he  was  stricken  by  an  attack  of  cerebral  hemorrhage,  and  nearly  complete 
right  hemiplegia  resulted.  At  that  time  the  writer  was  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  the  college,  and  he  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  shock  which 
the  first  announcement  of  Prof.  Davis'  illness  gave  the  faculty,  and  the 
insurmountable  difficulties  we  expected  to  encounter  in  filling  his  place — 
for  we  supposed  his  work  on  earth  was  done.  But  he  rallied  w'ith  unex- 
pected rapidity,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  out  again.  On  a  certain  day  the 
rumor  reached  the  college  that  Prof.  Davis  would  lecture  that  afternoon, 
and  immediately  his  class  bestirred  themselves  in  preparing  to  give  their 
distinguished  Professor  a  royal  reception.  The  decorations  were  all  in 
place;  the  lecture  room  was  crow^ded  with  an  eager  and  expectant  band 
of  students,  every  one  nearly  bursting  with  suppressed  applause ;  the  silence 
grew  more  and  more  oppressive,  as  the  slow-going  hands  on  the  clock 
seeined  to  purposely  lag  and  linger;  but  the  anxious  moment  arrived,  the 
bell  rang,  the  door  slowly  opened  and  the  Professor  appeared,  and  then 
pandemonium  broke  forth;  the  applause  was  deafening,  prolonged,  and 
continuous ;  the  Professor  stood  calmly,  patiently,  wdthout  moving  a  muscle 
or  uttering  a  word,  until  the  "boys"  had  exhausted  themselves  by  their  ex- 
uberant welcome,  when  he  quietly  began  his  lecture  at  exactly  the  point 
where  he  had  left  off  several  weeks  previously,  just  as  though  nothing  had 
happened.  Prof.  Davis  lectured  ten  years  longer  in  the  college,  but  mean- 
time several  of  the  members  of  that  faculty,  who  expected  to  select  his  suc- 
cessor, had  gone  to  their  long  account. 

In  June,  i8q8,  he  resigned  as  Dean  of  the  Northwestern  University 
Medical  School*— the  successor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College— and  his 
work  as  a  teacher  of  medicine,  extending  over  half  a  century,  and  from 
the  "dark  ages"  to  the  noondav  sun  of  medical  science,  was  forever  finished. 


*He  was,  however,  Emeritus  Dean  and  Professor,  until  his  death,  and  I  am  told 
that  he  even  delivered  an  occasional  lecture  after  his  resignation. 


l80  PERSONAL    A.ND  REMTNISCEXT 

On  the  thirteenth  day  of  ]\Iay,,  1905,  "Davis  Square,"  Chicago,  was 
dedicated  to  the  uses  of  the  pubHc  in  perpetuity.  It  was  a  post  mortem 
honor  paid  to  the  late  Dr.  X.  S.  Davis  and  a  pecuharly  appropriate  honor 
it  was  and  is.  Davis  Square  is  in  reahty  one  of  the  small  parks  which  our 
broad-minded  Park  Commissioners  have  recently  been  establishing  in  the 
poorer  and  over-crowded  districts  where  the  children  have  absolutely  no 
playground  but  the  hot  and  dusty  street  in  summer  or  the  filthy  muddy 
street  in  winter. 

It  is  worth  one's  while  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  this  crowded  neighbor- 
hood on  a  summer  afternoon,  just  to  see  the  groups  of  happy  children  at 
their  wild  and  noisy  sports,  away  from  the  dirt  and  peril  of  the  street,  with 
its  vices  and  temptations,  and  who  shall  say  that  the  benignant  spirit  of 
him  after  whom  this  breathing  place  is  named,  does  not  hover  over  the 
scene  ? 

Not  far  distant  from  the  "Square,"  stands  the  "Davis  School,"  a 
modern  school  edifice,  of  the  commodious  and  attractive  type,  wisely  adopted 
a  few"  years  since  by  the  Chicago  Board  of  Education.  This  school  house 
is  not  like  the  one  its  namesake  attended  eighty  years  ago,  nor  are  the 
methods  of  instruction  like  those  then  in  vogue.  In  the  Davis  School,  of 
Chicago,  the  swash  of  the  birch  twig  is  not  heard,  as  it  viciously  curls  around 
the  legs  of  the  howling  victim.  "Corporeal  punishment"  is  one  of  the  relics 
of  the  past,  and  the  Davis  School  is  an  advanced  example  of  the  advanced 
methods  of  common  school  instruction  and  discipline  of  to-day. 

Some  time  during  the  year  1900,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  the  exact 
date.  Dr.  Davis  delivered  a  short  address  to  the  so-called  "Hundred  Year 
Club,"  composed  of  a  few  aged  people  w^ho  had  conceived  an  ambition  to 
be  centenarians,  but  it  is  painful  to  be  obliged  to  announce  that  now  (1907), 
seven  years  after  the  doctor's  address,  nearly  all  of  the  members  of  that 
club  have  given  up  the  ghost,  and  likewise  their  hope  of  washes  of  "many 
happy  returns"  on  their  hundredth  birthday.  Among  those  present  on  that 
unique  occasion  were  Dr.  Adam  Miller,  Dr.  J.  B.  \^^alker  and  "Aunt"  Lizzie 
Aiken,  the  latter  so  well  known  to  all  the  old  soldiers.  As  Dr.  Davis' 
address  was  quite  short,  and  as  it  was  one  of  the  last  if  not  the  last  of  his 
public  addresses,  we  reproduce  it  entire.  It  is  as  follows,  and  of  course  it  is 
entirely  extemporary : 

"There  is  no  patent  right  for  the  promotion  of  longevity.  To  lay  down 
arbitrary  rules  on  this  subject  is  sheer  nonsense;  what  would  be  judicious 
for  one  would  not  be  for  another.  The  way  to  promote  longevity  is  simply 
to  promote  good  health  by  obeying  the  laws  which  God  has  given  to  man. 
The  first  steps  toward  maintaining  good  health  in  obedience  to  God's  laws 
are  to  eat  good,   simple,  plain,  wholesome  food ;  to   exercise  the  body  in 


PERSONAL   AND  REMINISCENT  l8l 

a  rational  manner;  to  breathe  fresh,  pure  air;  to  drink  good,  pure  water, 
and  let  everything  else  alone — rigidly. 

"Nature's  great  restorer  is  sleep.  Individuals  vary  as  to  the  amount 
of  sleep  required.  For  one  engaged  in  active  manual  labor,  eight  hours  are 
about  the  average ;  for  one  less  actively  engaged  in  physical  exertion,  an 
hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half  less.  Regularity  should  be  observed  in  the  man- 
ner of  living  so  far  as  possible.  Eating,  sleeping,  working,  taking  recreation, 
etc.,  should  be  reduced  to  as  systematic  a  basis  as  can  be  established  with  pro- 
priety.    Regularity  in  these  things  conduces  to  long  life. 

"The  average  duration  of  life  has  been  considerably  increased,  particu- 
larly in  the  last  two  centuries — perhaps  more  during  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury than  in  any  time  before.  But  there  is  a  reason  for  this  growth  in 
longevity.  During  all  the  centuries  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era  down  to  the  eighteenth  century,  what  was  called  the  civilized  part  of 
the  world  was  scourged  annually  by  sweeping  epidemics  and  almost  con- 
stant wars.  Devastating  wars  pave  the  way  for  poverty,  wretchedness 
and  famine.  Then  comes  the  plague.  Before  the  discovery  of  vaccination 
smallpox  almost  depopulated  Europe. 

"In  the  present  state  of  society  it  is  not  possible  to  apply  any  set  of  rules 
which  would  enable  a  man  to  live  lOO  years  or  longer.  But  if  we  could 
take  a  state  as  a  thing  apart,  erect  a  high  wall  around  it,  and  regulate  the 
food,  the  work,  the  sleep,  the  exercise,  the  recreation,  the  habits  of  daily 
life,  and  above  all  the  propagation  of  the  species,  we  could  without  doubt 
steadily  increase  the  vigor  of  the  population,  so  that  after  a  century  of 
experiment  the  majority  of  the  people  would  live  beyond  lOO  years.  But 
tobacco  and  alcohol  would  have  to  be  excluded  absolutely  from  this  state. 

"We  can  never  produce  a  race  of  centenarians  as  long  as  the  evils  of 
tobacco  and  alcohol  and  heredity  are  present  to  combat  and  nullify  the 
efforts  of  those  who  obey  the  laws  of  God.  One  family  may  live  right,  in 
obedience  to  hygiene  and  temperance ;  a  neighbor  family  may  have  children 
conceived  by  parents  impregnated  with  alcohol,  nicotine  and  tobacco  oil; 
the  children  of  the  two  families  intermarry,  and  this  knocks  in  the  head 
every  tendency  toward  long  life. 

"As  for  myself,  I  am  past  83,  and  I  have  one  brother  who  is  just  past 
85.  My  father  lived  to  be  90.  It  may  be  said  that  I  belong  to  what  is 
called  a  long-lived  family.  Many  of  the  family  lived  to  be  from  75  to  85. 
and  my  ancestors,  generally  speaking,  were  above  the  average  in  tenacity 
of  life! 

"Work  has  not  killed  me.  Indeed,  few  are  killed  by  work.  When  you 
hear  that  this  or  that  man  has  broken  down  and  died  from  overwork,  you 


l82  PERSONAL  AND  REMINISCENT 

may  be  sure  that  it  was  not  the  work  that  killed,  but  worr}-  or  excesses 
in  living. 

"I  have  always  been  a  great  walker,  and  still  take  to  that  form  of  exer- 
cise, walking  to  my  office,  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  more,  and  home  again,, 
winter  and  summer.  When  I  reach  the  office  building  I  don't  wait  for  the 
elevator.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  I  pause  long  enough  to  take  a  long, 
deep  breath,  then  mount  the  flight,  after  which  I  feel  but  little  fatigue.  I 
used  to  beat  the  old-fashioned  street  cars  and  omnibuses  in  Chicago  on 
foot,  but  I  wouldn't  like  to  try  to  do  it  now.  The  cars  have  gained  in  speed, 
while  I  have  dovibtless  gone  back. 

"But  I  used  to  walk  and  walk  and  walk  day  and  night  in  pursuit  of 
my  calling,  hardly  ever  reaching  homie  until  ii  or  12  at  night.  I  have  al- 
ways eaten  what  was  set  before  me,  whether  animal  or  vegetable  food,  the 
chief  point  being-  not  to  eat  too  much.  Outdoor  exercise  prepares  a  man 
for  good  food.  All  my  life  I  have  made  it  a  rule  to  begin  the  day  with  a 
good,  hearty  breakfast.  It  has  always  been  one  of  the  best  meals  to  me. 
I  have  never  had  any  use  for  the  fashionable  breakfast,  consisting  of  a  cup 
.of  coffee  and  a  roll." 
'  (For  the  privilege  of  printing  the  foregoing  address,  I  am  indebted 
to  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  of  the  Newberry  Library. — I.  N.  D.) 

Nearly  all  of  Dr.  Davis'  autograph  manuscript,  and  all  the  letters  ac- 
cumulated through  his  extensive  correspondence  with  medical  men,  except 
half  a  dozen  or  so,  which  are  of  no  special  value,  have  been  destro^^ed ;  a 
fact  which  has  handicapped  and  embarrassed  his  biographer  to  no  small 
degree.  A  public  man's  life  is  revealed  more  fully  and  accurately  by  his 
correspondence,  than  through  any  other  source,  and  it  is  a  loss  to  the  world 
when  such  a  direct  and  authentic  source  of  information  is  inaccessible.  But 
one  manuscript,  supposed  to  have  been  lost,  has  been  discovered  by  the 
writer,  namely,  the  original  draft  of  his  Presidential  address,  before  the 
International  Medical  Congress  of  1887,  and  the  photographer  has  repro- 
duced the  closing  sentence  in  fac  simile.'" 

Dr.  Davis  left  but  a  small  estate,  in  spite  of  his  very  large  and  really 
lucrative  practice.  And  no  wonder.  He  gave  away  money  right  and  left, 
and  without  that  exercise  of  good  judgment  which  distinguished  liim  in 
other  matters.  He  was  frugal  in  his  personal  expenses,  and  while  he  always 
maintained  his  family  in  a  style  of  liberal  and  wholesome  comfort,  no  unwise 
or  unnecessary  extravagances  were  indulged  in  or  even  desired.  His  home 
life  was  ideal;  no  more  perfect  example  of  what  a  home  should  be  could 
be  found  anywhere  than  the  home  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  N.  S.  Davis.     But  as  a 


*See  following  page. 


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184  PERSONAL  AND  REMINISCENT 

financier  the  doctor  was  about  on  a  par  with  the  great  majority  of  us  medi- 
cal men. 

It  is  very  interesting  as  well  as  remarkable  that  up  to  within  ten  days 
of  his  death  he  earned  a  good  professional  income,  notwithstanding  he  was 
■87  years  old. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  in  Portland,  Ore- 
gon, July,  1905,  a  committee  was  appointed  "to  secure  a  proper  memorial  of 
Dr.  Davis"  and  Dr.  H.  O.  Marcy,  of  Boston,  was  made  chairman. 

The  committee  consists  of  one  member  from  each  State,  and  Dr.  Wm. 
E.  Quine,  of  Chicago,  who  is  vice  chairman  of  the  committee,  represents  Illi- 
nois. It  is  the  desire  of  the  committee  to  raise  not  less  than  thirty  thous- 
and dollars,  to  be  invested  as  a  memorial  fund,  the  annual  interest  to  be 
used  in  the  promotion  of  original  investigations  in  the  field  of  pathology 
or  some  cognate  subject;  or  to  be  expended  for  the  erection  of  a  permanent 
monument,  which  shall  be  a  memorial  of  Dr.  Davis.  If  the  matter  could  be 
left  to  the  beneficiary  himself,  anybody  can  tell  which  of  the  two  objects  he 
would  choose,  but  the  Association  will  doubtless  make  a  wise  decision,  as 
soon  as  the  money  is  forthcoming.  It  is  a  project  that  does  honor  to  it^ 
projector.  Dr.  Marcy,  for  many  years  an  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Davis.  Dr. 
Marcy  delivered  an  eloquent  and  exhaustive  oration  on  the  "Life  and 
Character"  of  Dr.  Davis  at  the  Portland  meeting  of  the  American  Medical 
Association  in  1905,  from  which  an  extract  is  printed  in  Chap.  XVII. 

The  author  must  again  express  his  regret  that  he  has  been  unable 
to  trace  the  ancestry  of  Dr.  Davis  beyond  his  father,  Dow  Davis,  although 
he  has  made  strenuous  eft"orts,  with  the  aid  of  a  genealogical  expert,  Mrs. 
Harriet  Taylor,  in  the  Newberry  Library  to  do  so.  But  there  is  reasonable 
ground  for  the  conjecture  that  he  was  of  Puritan  descent,  that  his  direct 
ancestors  emigrated  from  England  to  the  "Bay  Colony,"  along  with  the 
many  thousands  that  fled  from  the  Stuart  persecutions  between  1630  and 
1640,  and  that  less  remote  ancestors  subsequently  emigrated  from  ]\Iassa- 
chusetts  Bay  to  the  vicinity  of  the  present  site  of  Troy,  New  York.  There 
the  trail,  indistinct  and  doubtful  at  best,  seems  at  the  present  time  to  be 
hopelessly  lost. 


CONCLUSION. 

A  Character  Study. 

When  we  study  the  personaHty  of  N.  S.  Davis,  we  are  confronted 
with  a  puzzling  medley  of  incompatibilities,  which  are,  at  first  glance,  in- 
explicable. Here  we  see  a  man  of  the  highest  type  of  character,  who  en- 
joys and  richly  merits  the  absolute  confidence  of  his  fellow  men,  and  whose 
kindness  of  heart  is  so  well  known  that  it  has  passed  into  a  proverb;  yet 
who  is  liable  to  passionate  outbursts  of  temper  and  violent  torrents  of 
invective,  that  ill-become  a  truly  great  character,  but  in  a  spirit  of  charity 
are  forgiven  by  his  friends,  because  they  are  "peculiarities"  of  Dr.  Davis. 

His  biographer  is  not  called  upon  to  apologize  for,  or  to  pass  over  in 
silence,  the  weaknesses  and  foibles  of  his  subject,  any  more  than  he  is 
called  upon  to  unduly  magnify  or  unjustly  minimize  his  truly  great  quali- 
ties ;  but  it  is  his  duty  to  account  for,  or  admit  his  inability  to  account  for, 
the  asperities  of  the  otherwise  ideal  character  he  has  endeavored  to  por- 
tray. We  shall  try  to  explain,  so  far  as  an  explanation  is  possible,  the 
temperamental  "peculiarities"  of  the  great  man,  whose  unique  personality 
commands  our  increasing  admiration,  as  our  familiarity  therewith  becomes 
more  and  more  perfect. 

As  a  bold  and  striking  object  lesson,  in  the  study  of  evolution  con- 
sidered from  the  standpoint  of  anthropology,  no  better  example  could  be 
found  than  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  and  his  rugged,  stalwart,  transparent  character. 

However  self-poised  and  independent  a  man  may  be,  he  is  more  or 
less  influenced  by  his  environment,  and  he  cannot  help  himself.  Alore- 
over,  the  old  saw,  "as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined,"  is  just  as  true 
to-day  as  it  ever  was,  which  means  that  it  is  absolutely  true.  A  man  is 
influenced  to  his  dying  day  by  the  scenes  and  experiences  of  his  child- 
hood, although  he  may  not  know  it,  or  may  even  refuse  to  admit  it.  A 
striking  example  of  this  we  have  already  noted,  in  the  far-reaching  influ- 
ence of  the  promise  the  child  N.  S.  Davis— then  only  seven  years  old- 
made  to  his  dying  mother. 

Let  us  glance  at  his  childhood,  not  as  sentimentalists,  but  as  students. 
He  was  born  amidst  forbiddmg  and  depressing  surroundings.  He  first 
.saw  the  light— although  not  very  much  of  it— through  the  diminutive 
windows  of  a  log  house,  which  stood  in  a  sparsely  settled  neighborhood. 


1 86  A    CHARACTER   STUDY 

surrounded  by  the  virgin  forest,  which  cast  its  gloomy  shadows  athwart 
the  sky.  There  is  something  weird  and  solemn  about  the  forest,  and  as 
the  child  gazed  into  its  mysterious  depths,  its  indefinable  influence  was 
ielt,  unconsciously  of  course,  but  none  the  less  really,  and  it  became  one 
of  the  formative  factors  of  the  sober-minded  future  man.  At  the  tender 
age  of  seven  years  he  lost  his  mother,  and  he  was  thus  deprived  of  the 
gentle  touch  and  refining  influences,  which  only  a  mother  can  impart.  It 
may  be  laid  down  as  an  axiom  that  the  child  who  passes  his  early  years 
without  maternal  discipline  and  guidance,  is  deprived  of  something  for 
which  no  adequate  substitute  can  be  provided.  It  is  during  the  early  years 
if  ever,  and  under  a  mother's  wise  and  unerring  discipline,  that  control 
of  the  passions  is  acquired,  and  that  an  unruly  temper  is  brought  under 
subjection.  Thus  the  childhood  of  young  Davis  lacked  two  factors  that 
-are  absolutely  essential,  if  the  foundation  of  a  symmetrical  character  is  to 
be  laid,  namely,  a  home  and  an  environment  such  as  a  log  cabin,  in 
the  midst  of  a  frowning  wilderness  could  not  furnish,  and  the  care  and 
discipline,  which  only  a  mother's  love  can  inspire. 

As  the  years  go  by,  and  he  becomes  a  youth,  it  is  a  sad  picture  that 
comes  before  us.  Here  is  a  boy  with  a  precocious  mind  and  a  precocious 
•conscience,  spurred  b}^  an  ambition  for  knowledge  and  education,  but  fet- 
tered by  poverty  and  his  ideas  of  "duty,"  which  bind  him  to  the  monotony 
of  the  plough  and  the  harrow.  His  days  are  a  round  of  labor;  his  nights 
are  passed  in  the  gloomy  log  house,  without  books  or  pictures-  or  any  of 
the  accessories  of  home,  which  we  now  deem  necessities,  and  absolutely 
without  cheerful  or  congenial  companionship.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
rough  diamond  retained  many  of  its  angularities  through  life,  in  spite  of 
-its  being  a  diamond  of  the  "first  water?" 

At  the  present  day  we  are  paying  great  attention  to  our  public  schools. 
We  insist  upon  commodious,  cleanly,  well-ventilated  buildings,  with  some 
pretentions  to  architectural  beauty;  we  provide  adequate  means  for  illus- 
tration, in  the  way  of  m.aps,  globes,  pictures,  apparatus,  and  whatever  else 
modern  ideas  of  the  education  of  children  may  require.  We  also  insist 
that  teachers  shall  be  properly  qualified  for  their  work,  that  they  shall 
be  imbued  with  that  degree  of  enthusiasm  and  love  for  their  work  that 
ensures  results,  and  we  also  ordain  that  the  old-fashioned  rawhide,  the 
ruler,  the  well  tanned  "birch  rod,"  and  other  implements  of  "corporeal  pun- 
ishment" shall  be  banished  from  the  school  room,  absolutely  and  forever.* 


*In  his  childhood  days,  the  writer  "went  to  school"  to  a  "master"  who  always 
kept  a  rawhide  hanging  over  his  desk ;  that  is,  when  it  was  not  "in  use."    The  memory 
•of  that  instrument  of  torture  is  still  vividly  impressed  on  the  writer's  mind — and  else- 
where. 


A    CHAKACTKR   STUDY  187 

But  the  public  schools  of  eighty  years  ago,  and  from  that  lime  down 
to  fifty,  or  even  forty  years  ago,  were  a  standing  disgrace.  The'  school 
houses  were  ugly,  dirty,  empty  and  forbidding;  no  means  of  illustration 
beyond  a  blackboard  were  furnished ;  the  teachers  were  generally  strangers 
to  the  "committee  man''  and  everybody  else,  and  they  were  employed  for 
a  single  term,  without  mucli  regard  to  their  educational  qualifications,  ex- 
cept a  capacity  for  "governing,"  and  that  was  simply  a  question  of  brawn 
and  muscle;  corporeal  punishment  was  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  and 
he  was  the  hero  of  the  school  who  could  take  a  "licking"  with  tjie  greatest 
fortitude,  while  the  actual  teaching  was  pretty  much  limited  to  the  three 
"R's,"  with  perhaps  a  smattering  of  history  and  geography. 
A  false  idea  of  honor  prevailed ;  not  the  best  student,  but  the 
best  fighter;  not  he  who  could  "parse"  a  sentence  from  the  "Vil- 
lage Blacksmith"  most  correctly,  but  he  who  could  organize  and  lead 
a  mob  of  the  "biggest  boys,"  while  they  pitched  the  "schoolmaster"  into  a 
snow  bank;  he  was  the  real  hero  of  the  school,  upon  whom  the  "small 
boys"  looked  with  both  adoration  and  envy.''"  Could  there  be  anything 
refining  or  elevating  in  attendance  upon  such  schools  as  I  have  described.^ 
Take  the  case  of  a  boy  like  young  Davis;  serious  and  thoughtful ;  hungering 
for  knowledge,  but  without  a  bit  of  the  "rougii  and  tumble"  hghting  spirit, 
which  possessed  most  of  the  country  lads  of  that  day ;  without  congenial 
companionship,  and  limited  to  the  slender  resources  of  tlie  iiu-m,  the 
"meeting  house"  and  the  school;  what  wonder  that  he  wrapped  the  mantle 
of  his  reserve  more  closely  about  him,  and  communed  only  with  nature 
and  his  God. 

Another  factor  in  the  life  of  Dr.  Davis  had  much  to  do  with  develop- 
ing his  innate  pugnacity,  and  placing  him  always  on  the  defensive,  namely, 
pretty  much  all  his  life  he  was  rowing  against  the  current,  and  the  current 
sometimes  might  appropriately  be  called  the  "rapids."  During  his  very 
first  course  of  medical  lectures,  the  absurdity  of  the  methods  of  teaching 
medicine  struck  him  so  forcibly,  that  he  at  once  resolved  on  a  campaign 
in  the  interests  of  higher  general  and  medical  education.  And  shortly 
after  he  began  that  long  and  strenuous  series  of  efforts,  in  the  face  of  de- 
termined opposition,  which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  and  its  endorsement  of  its  founder's  ideas  as  to  a 
radical  change  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  educating  young  men  for  the 
medical  profession.  But  it  was  no  easy  task,  and  its  effects  on  the  young 
man  who  marshalled  the  forces,  was  what  might  be  expected ;  it  stififened  his 


*0f  course  I  am  speaking  of  remote  country  schools,  in  the  sparsely  settled  dis- 
tricts of  northern  New  England  and  central  New  York,  and  not  of  schools  m  the 
larger  cities,  though  they  were  nothing  to  brag  of,  half  a  century  ago.— I.  >..  D. 


1 88  A    CHARACTER   STUDY 

mental  backbone,  which  needed  no  stiffening,  and  hardened  an  imperiou: 
will,  which  needed  influences  in  the  opposite  direction. 

When  he  came  to  Chicago  and  entered  the  faculty  of  Rush  Medica 
College,  he  found  exactly  the  educational  methods  in  vogue  that  he  had  s( 
severely  condemned  in  other  schools;  and  now  he  found  himself  a  partici 
pant  in  just  these  methods.  And  then  he  began  that  campaign  whicl 
eventuated  in  the  disruption  of  the  faculty  of  Rush  Medical  College,  anc 
the  establishment  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College  along  the  lines  of  Dr 
Davis'  own  ideas ;  but  this  cost  a  hot  controversy  with  that  other  imperiou; 
autocrat,  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  and  the  feud  between  these  tv.-o  grea 
men  remained  an  open  sore,  until  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1866.  Durin^ 
this  period  of  disputation,  Dr.  Davis  was  rowing  against  the  rapids  witl 
a  vengeance,  and  nothing  but  his  iron  will  and  unconquerable  determina 
tion,  enabled  him  to  stem  the  current,  and  reach  comparatively  calme: 
waters.  But  there  were  no  softening  or  refining  influences  to  be  gottei 
out  of  a  contest  so  strenuous  and  prolonged. 

Quite  early  in  his  professional  life  he  commenced  an  active  campaigi 
against  intemperance,  and  thus  arrayed  against  himself  the  liquor  selle 
and  the  liquor  consumer.  In  his  temperance  work,  Dr.  Davis  was  alway 
very  radical  and  uncompromising;  he  demanded  absolute  "teetotalism, 
and  he  included  all  forms  of  intoxicants,  under  whatever  name  or  guis' 
they  might  appear.*  Of  course  so  radical  a  departure  from  the  habit 
and  customs  which  long  use  had  sanctioned,  brought  him  into  controvers; 
with  older  men  of  all  classes  and  callings,  and  again,  alone  and  unaided 
he  was  rowing  against  the  tide  of  public  and  professional  opinion.  AA'i 
cannot  help  admiring  the  oaken  toughness  of  fibre  which  it  took  for  ; 
young  man  to  stand,  like  Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  in  defiance  of  popu 
lar  and  professional  opinion,  at  the  bidding  of  his  conscience,  and  his  ex 
alted  ideas  of  duty;  but  we  must  consider  also  that  while  he  was  fightim 
King  Alcohol,  he  was  not  acquiring  a  spirit  of  compromise,  or  a  sunn; 
temper. 

Of  course  beneath  all  these  external  and  accidental  causes  was  th 
underlying  fact  that  Dr.  Davis  was  by  nature  a  man  of  iron  will,  of  posi 
five  opinions,  and  unyielding  determination;  when  these  innate  attribute 
are  made  to  pass  through  the  trials  V\-e  have  recounted,  the  result  is  th 
unique  personality,  known  in  the  flesh  as  N.  S.  Davis. 

In   early  life,   however,  young  Davis   encountered  two   softening,   re 

*I  once  saw  him,  while  he  was  conversing  with  a  friend  at  a  banquet,  uncon 
sciously  taste  of  a  frozen  mixture,  which  came  on  "in  course,"  called,  I  think,  "Ro 
man  punch" ;  it  contained,  or  he  thought  it  contained,  some  form  of  spirituous  liquoi 
and  I  remember  the  smile  that  went  around  the  table,  as  the  Doctor  pushed  aside  th 
glass  in  deep  disgust. — I.  N.  D. 


A    CHARACTER    STUDY  jgc) 

-fining-  and  elevating-  factors,  both  of  which  accompanied  him  to  his  dying 
lionr,  and  exerted  an  incalculable  influence  for  good  in  the  shaping  of  his 
rugged  character. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  Christian  religion,  which  he  embraced  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  while  attending  the  Cazenovia  Seminary.  Whatever 
may  have  been  his  spiritual  experiences,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  had  a 
-clear  and  convincing  intellectual  apprehension  of  the  eternal  verities  of  the 
Teligion  of  the  Bible,  and  that  his  "conversion"  was  not  the  mere  senti- 
mental or  emotional  whim  of  a  callow  youth.  At  all  events,  he  never 
■faltered  or  wavered  or  doubted,  but  to  the  last  moment  of  his  life  his  con- 
"viction  was  perfectly  clear  that  he  "knew  in  whom  he  had  trusted." 

The  other,  and  equally  momentous  event,  was  his  marriage  to  Anna 
Maria  Parker,  March  5th,  1838,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Parker,  -of  Vienna, 
TMew  York. 

Anna  Maria  Parker  was  a  descendant,  in  the  seventh  generation,  of 
Anthony  Stoddard,  who  "emigrated  from  England  and  came  to  Boston 
about  1639,"  was  made  a  "Freeman"  in  1640,  and  thenceforth  took  an 
-active  part. in  town  matters.  He  was  evidently  a  Puritan,  who  came  to  the 
"Bay  Colony"  along  with  twenty  thousand  more  of  the  best  blood  of 
-England,  to  escape  the  Stuart  persecutions,  and  let  us,  who  have  descended 
from  those  stalwart  Puritans,  not  forget  to  return  thanks  to  the  House  of 
Stuart  for  the  expatriation  of  our  ancestors ! 

When  Nathan  S.  Davis  and  Anna  Maria  Parker  were  married  he  was 
barely  twenty-one,  and  she  was  not  quite  eighteen.  But  she  developed  into 
a  strong,  self-poised  woman,  and  from  the  day  of  that  happy  marriage  until 
liis  death,  she  was  his  constant  helper  and  counsellor,  and  never-failing  com- 
forter. Her  influence  over  him  was  so  unobtrusive  and  gentle  that  it  never 
became  unwelcome,  in  fact  was  scarcely  felt,  but  who  will  dare  try  to  esti- 
mate its  aggregate  and  ultimate  result? 

This  brings  us  to  that  period  of  Dr.  Davis'  life  when  he  was  at  the 
zenith  of  his  intellectual  strength ;  when  his  character  and  personality  had 
reached  their  full  maturity;  and  when  we  have  before  us  the  fully-developed 
and  fully-equipped  man,  at  the  summit  of  his  active  and  fruitful  career. 
-And  what  are  the  leading  elements  of  this  strong  and  rugged  character? 

First.  He  was  an  honest  man.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that  he  paid 
such  taxes  as  he  could  not  escape,  and  charged  his  patients  no  more  visits 
than  he  made.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  was  what  is  so  aptly  called  "law 
honest,"  and  therefore  never  got  caught  doing  wrong.  A  great  many  of 
us  could  measure  up  to  that  standard.  But  his  standard  of  honesty  was 
of  that  lofty  type,  that  he  would  not  even  deceive  himself.  He  held  him- 
-self  to  a  strict  account,  and  his  severely  exacting  conscience  was  his  ma.s- 


igO  A    CHARAC'JER   STUDY 

ter.  If  a  thing  was  right  he  endorsed  it;  if  a  thing  was  wrong  he  con- 
demned it. 

Nor  was  he  governed  or  even  influenced  by  any  considerations  of 
"policy"  or  the  eft'ect  of  his  conduct  on  his  personal  interests.  The  ques- 
tion of  right  or  wrong  was  the  paramount  question;  so  long  as  he  was 
right,  or  believed  he  was  right,  he  went  ahead  and  left  consequences  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  Of  course  he  made  enemies ;  such  men  always 
do;  of  course  he  had  many  opponents  and  many  a  parliamentary  battle  at 
the  meetings  of  the  various  organizations  to  which  he  belonged.  But  how- 
ever radicallv  his  friends  or  professional  brethren  might  dissent  from  his 
conclusions,  his  thorough-going  honesty  of  purpose,  and  his  conscientious 
.desire  to  say  and  do  the  right  thing,  were  never  questioned.  Few  indeed 
are  the  men  of  whom  so  sweeping  an  assertion  can  be  made. 

Secondly.  Dr.  Davis  was  a  fearless  man.  He  could  not  be  frightened 
or  driven  from  a  position  or  conviction  which  he  felt  called  upon  to  de- 
fend. He  did  not  act  hastily;  he  v^'as  the  very  antipodes  of  a  creature  of 
impulse,  in  spite  of  his  occasional  temperamental  storms  ;  his  conclusions 
were  carefully  thought  out,  and  arrived  at  deliberately ;  but  wdien  he  ar- 
rived at  a  definite  conclusion  as  to  whither  his  duty  led  him,  he  was  as 
immovable  as  the  eternal  granite.  Many  times  I  have  heard  him  called 
"pig-headed,"  "obstinate"  and  "opinionated,"  all  of  wdiich  seemed  true  to 
the  persons  uttering  these  epithets,  because  they  could  not  compass  the 
mental  processes  through  v.diich  Dr.  Davis  reached  his  anchorage.  Many 
times  was  he  assailed  in  public  debate,  through  the  medical  and  secular 
press,  and  bv  popular  clamor,  on  account  of  something  which  he  had  said 
or  written  or  done,  but  unless  he  was  convinced  that  he  was  wrong,  he  was 
never  known  to  haul  down  his  colors  or  spike  his  guns,  and  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  he  never  fired  blank  cartridges.  Neither  was  he 
boastfuUv  or  offensively  aggressive;  he  had  absolutely  nothing  of  the 
noisy,  blatant,  "who's  afraid"  manner  of  the  half-doubting  man,  who  has 
to  whistle  or  shout  to  keep  up  his  courage.  Dr.  Davis  had  profound  faith 
in  himself,  and  fearlessness  that  is  grounded  upon  faith  is  as  invincible 
to-dav  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  Christian  martyrs.  Nee  temcre  nee 
t'unidc,  might  well  have  been  the  motto  of  this  stalwart  man. 

Third.  He  was  a  broad-gauged  man.  He  was  also,  and  perhaps  more 
properly,  a  far-sighted  man.  His  plans  were  never  made  for  to-day  merely, 
but  for  to-morrow  and  the  far  off  future  as  well.  The  most  conspicuous 
example  of  his  long-range  vision,  is  the  'American  Medical  Association  of 
to-day,  as  compared  with  its  feeble  and  halting  beginning.  From  the  very 
inception  of  the  movement  which  culminated  in  the  successful  organiza- 
tion of  the  Association,  down  to  his  last  year  of  active  participation  in  its 


A    CHARACTF.R    STUDY  '9^ 

councils.  Dr.  Davis  kei)t  in  mind  and  urL;x-d  ui)i)n  the  Association  from  year 
to  year,  his  views  with  regard  to  higher  medical  education,  and  he  lived 
long  enough  to  see  his  ideas  adopted  by  every  medical  scIumjI  in  good  stand- 
ing in  the  country.  He  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  hard  common  sense ; 
he  was  never  a  dreamer  or  a  visionary  ;  consequently  his  plans  were  always 
carefully  considered  and  thoroughly  matured,  before  they  were  presented 
for  the  consideration  of  others.  Of  course  he  was  always  sure  to  have 
a  respectful  hearing,  and  he  rarely  failed  to  carry  conviction  and  achieve 
his  object.  Because  he  was  broad-gauged,  he  was  generally  s^tccessful  in 
his  enterprises,  although  his  superb  confidence  in  himself  inspired  the  con- 
fidence of  others,  and  thus  increased  his  power  and  influence.  More  than 
once  or  twice  have  the  old  Chicago  Medical  College,  Mercy  Hospital  and 
the  Washingtonian  Home  had  occasion  to  rejoice  in  the  support  of  this 
strong,  undaunted  man,  with  his  resourceful  tact  and  masterful  confidence, 
when  the  clouds  were  gathering  over  them,  and  the  breakers  were  dead 
ahead.  One  such  personality  in  a  Board  of  Directors  or  a  college  faculty, 
dififuses  its  strength  through  the  whole  body,  and  acts  as  a  saving  tonic  in 
times  of  weakness. 

Fourth.  Dr.  Davis  was  an  altruist.  An  altruist,  says  the  Century  Dic- 
tionary, and  dear  old  Noah  Webster's  unabridged,  "is  a  person  devoted  to 
the  welfare  of  others."  Backed  by  these  eminent  authorities,  I  make  bold 
to  pronounce  the  late  Nathan  Smith  Davis  an  "unabridged"  altruist.  1 
believe  this  rather  unusual  term  was  first  employed  bv  the  French  philos- 
opher, Comte,  to  distinguish  a  person  who  was  the  antithesis  of  an  egotist. 
It  therefore  applies  to  Dr.  Davis  with  special  aptness,  for  with  all  his 
stalwart  self-confidence,  he  was  no  egotist.  There  is  no  hyperbole  m  the 
proposition  that  Dr.  Davis  "devoted  himself  to  the  welfare  of  others."  Not 
a  sino-le  one  of  the  various  enterprises  in  which  he  was  engaged,  pronnsed 
or  vielded  anv  pecuniary  profit,  and  most  of  them  cost  him  considerable 
sums  of  raonev.  I  remember  hearing  him  remark,  however,  on  one  occa- 
sion when  he  was  urged  to  give  up  a  certain  professorship,  that  he  telt  he 
must  retain  that  particular  position,  because  it  was  the  only  one  that  paid 
or  ever  had  paid  him  anything.  Of  course  his  immense  labors  n.  n.ed.cal 
teaching  and  hospital  service  were  altogether  gratuitous.  an<l  he  wa.  tor- 
tunate  if  gratuitous  services  did  not  have  to  be  seasoned  every  now  and 
then  with  a  gratuity  of  money.  The  gratuitous  services  that  he  rendered 
to  poor  patients  in  his  office  and  at  their  homes,  will  never  be  known  in 
this  world,  and  certainly  Dr.  Davis  never  knew  hmiselt.  He  was  con- 
stantly giving  awav  money  to  this,  that  and  the  other  object,  keepmg  no 
account  of  his  benevolences,  and  many  times  without  being  able  to  recall 
the   object   of  his   gratuity   himself.      He    was   tenderly    regardtul    ot    the 


192  A    CHARACTER   STUDY 

financial  ability  of  his  patients,  in  the  matter  of  fees  for  his  services.  In- 
deed it  was  frequenth'  a  matter  of  complaint  and  criticism  among  his  pro- 
fessional contemporaries — myself  among  the  rest — that  he  was  needlessly 
and  unwisely  moderate  in  his  charges,  when  the  real  value  of  his  services- 
was  considered. 

The  Divine  Altruist  "went  about  doing  good,"  and  he  frequently 
charged  the  recipients  of  his  benefactions,  "that  they  should  tell  no  man." 
In  this  regard,  as  in  many  others.  Dr.  Davis  was  an  humble,  and,  it  may 
be,  unconscious  follower  of  the  Master  to  whose  service  he  consecrated  his 
life  while  he  was  yet  in  his  early  teens. 

Fifth.  Dr.  Davis  vs^as  a  public-spirited  citizen.  lie  gave  his  services,, 
his  time,  his  counsel,  and  his  money  to  any  and  every  cause  that  appealed 
to  his  judgment  as  a  good  and  worthy  cause,  and  likely  to  benefit  his  fellow- 
men.  As  we  heard  him  say,  in  an  after-dinner  address  in  1901,  when  he 
was  eighty- four  years  of  age:  "Whatever  comes  up  that  seems  to  be  im- 
portant and  will  improve  my  fellow  men,  my  impulse  is  to  do  what  I  can  to 
help  it  along."  And  that  was  the  rule  of  his  life  from  early  boyhood  until,, 
burdened  with  years  and  infirmities  of  body,  he  entered  into  rest. 

In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  pointed  out  the  various  scientific  and: 
eleemosynary  institutions  that  he  was  active  either  in  founding  or  main- 
taining, or  both.  Most  of  these  are  still  in  existence,  and  are  a  part  of  the 
legacy  he  left  to  his  fellovv?  citizens,  at  the  close  of  his  long  and  fruitful 
life;  a  life,  as  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  remark  more  than  once,  beau- 
tiful for  its  symmetry,  its  consistency  and  its  ceaseless  activity. 

Sixth.  As  we  have  already  seen.  Dr.  Davis  was  a  Christian,  and  this 
in  no  idle  or  passive  sense.  When  but  a  child  of  seven  years,  he  promised 
his  dying  mother  "to  be  a  good  boy,  to  learn  to  worship  God  and  to  do 
good  to  his  fellow  men."  That  solemn  death-bed  scene  made  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  the  plastic  mind  of  this  grave  and  thoughtful  child,  and  it 
became  a  permanent  increment  in  his  mental  make  up.  In  fact  the  upward 
current  of  his  life  seemed  to  start  from  that  scene  of  sorrow.  We  can 
easily  imagine  the  lonely  little  boy,  seriously  pondering  over  that  farewell 
promise,  with  an  appreciation  of  its  meaning  far  beyond  his  years.  His 
mother  was  a  Methodist,  and  consequently  Nathan's  early  childhood  was 
passed  in  an  atmosphere  of  religious  training,  and  this  fact  would  give  to 
the  promise  made  to  his  mother,  under  such  solemn  circumstances,  a  pe- 
culiar and  accentuated  emphasis. 

When  young  Davis  was  sixteen  years  old  he  attended  the  Cazenovia 

Seminary  for  about  six  months,  and  here  he  was  brought  under  strong 

reHgious  influences,  as  "Cazenovia"  was  a  Methodist  school,  and  in  those 

•  days  the  "conversion"  of  the  student  was  deemed  quite  as  important  as  his 


A    CHARACTER   STUDY  I9J 

education.  It  was  during  this  period  of  attendance  at  Cazenovia  Seminary 
that  he  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  remained  a  loyal, 
active  and  devoted  member  of  that  communion  as  -long  as  he  lived. 

His  services  to  the  church  of  his  choice  and  to  its  institutions  are  re- 
ferred to  in  another  chapter,  therefore  in  this  connection  it  only  remains  tO' 
say  a  few  words  about  his  Christian  character.  Dr.  Davis  was  not  a  noisy 
Christian ;  he  was  not  a  shouting  Christian.  He  did  not  require  a  safety- 
valve  in  the  shape  of  explosive  "hallelujahs"  and  "amens,"  which  seems  so 
necessary  to  those  whose  religion  is  only  "skin  deep."  Neither  was  his  . 
religion  like  a  kind  of  surplice,  to  be  worn  only  on  special  occasions,  and 
then  to  be  carefully  hung  away  and  kept  "unspotted  from  the  world."  But 
his  Christianity  was  just  like  the  man  himself;  genuine,  pervasive,  a  fact 
and  factor  of  his  daily  life.  He  was  a  Christologist ;  he  knew  in  whom  he 
trusted  and  the  reasons  why.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  speculative  philoso- 
phy; it  was  a  matter  of  deep,  abiding  faith,  as  the  result  of  calm  and  dis- 
passionate investigation.  But  behind  and  above  all  this,  was  the  hunger 
of  soul  which  impels  every  candid,  honest  and  thoughtful  man  to  consider 
his  relations  to  his  Creator  and  his  destiny  in  that  "bourne  from  which  no 
traveller  returns." 

Dr.  Davis  did  not  "wear"  his  religion;  he  assimlated  it,  and  it  became 
a  part,  and  a  large  part,  of  the  man,  on  Sundays  and  week-days,  in  pros- 
perity and  adversity,  in  joy  and  sorrow,  in  youth,  in  middle  life  and  espe- 
cially in  his  last  years,  when,  with  prophetic  illuminism,  lie  saw  the  harlx)r 
lisfhts  of  his  eternal  home. 


APPENDIX, 


NOTE-The  following  letter  from  Hon.  William  Jeonin-s  Bryan,  was  received  too  late  for  insertion 
in  its  proper  place,  but  I  take  great  pleasure  in  adding  an  exact  photographic  copy  as  an  appendix. 

I.  N.  D. 


William  J.  Brtan 
Kdivom  Ajn>  Pkoprjvtdr 

Richard  X^  Metoalfb 

ASBOOXATB    £dXTOB 


The  Commoner 


CiiJLai,nm  W.  UuTAM 


■  fAi.  ROOMH   Attn   llt.-»iiti«a  Or 
3=4-330  So.    ICtu   Misivf 


Lincoln,  Neb^ 


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